Hero United
by PowerPlayer2010
Summary: Sequel to The Off-Grid Unsung Hero (I recommend reading that first.) After everything that happened with the Porter brother's, Santana and Rachel are moving on with their lives. Happy, healthy and about to embark on a glorious summer, new changes for everyone is on the horizon.
1. Welcome Home

**I never do Author's Notes at the beginnings of chapter's, so this will be the only one. **

**Another quick reminder: I recommend that you read the prequel to this story before you continue. The Off-Grid Unsung Hero. There will be reference's to people, places, and things that will probably confuse you. As with prequels, most characterization is in The Off-Grid Unsung Hero, minus any new characters that are introduced in this story. **

* * *

Santana stood in Ogdensburg National Airport waiting for the love of her life to get off the 3:30 flight coming in from Los Angeles, California. She could already see more paparazzi gathering outside the doors, there had only been a few when she had first arrived. Now, it was like a mad house out there, maybe she should have brought Duncan with her. Santana always remained adamant that she could take care of herself, but sometimes it was nice to have that little bit of back up just hanging around in case something were to happen. That's where Duncan came in, he had been hired to give Rachel some peace of mind when she wasn't home and Santana had to go into the city by herself. That had been a long drawn out battle between the women, but in the end after some hard core crying Rachel had won and Duncan Andrews was hired. Duncan Andrews was the extremely ripped, bald headed, scary looking but secretly a giant teddy bear body guard that she and Rachel had to hire two years ago. Santana chuckled dryly to herself, three years ago she never would have imagined herself in this position. All of this...fame had came about not too long after everything with the Porter brother's had ended.

The summer after the trial, Rachel had remained good on her promise to release an EP that ended up topping the charts. Recording offers came flooding in and in the end it was an easy decision to stick with PF Productions who now had signed two bands and three additional solo artists. Things were going so well for Puck that he had to purchase some community property in town and have an official studio built. Santana swears this is the happiest she has ever seen Puck. After Quinn finally divorced her douche bag of a husband and moved in with Puck things between them really heated up and they were married within the year. They were a year and a half strong now with a little boy on the way. That's one of the reasons that Rachel was traveling by herself today. Quinn had to fly back home ahead of Rachel for a doctor's appointment that she could not miss. Davis Noah Puckerman was due to arrive September 24th, exactly four months away.

Beth was still adjusting to the idea of there being a new baby around the house. She already struggled some days to get equal attention from both of her parents. Santana knew how it felt to have two working parents, but Quinn and Puck done what they could. If Rachel could handle something on her own, Quinn stayed home and Puck always tried his best to be home by six in the evening walking through the door the same time that Beth did. She was a busy eleven year old. School, soccer and weekend dance classes took up a lot of her time, but now that it was Summer, Santana would make plans for some camping trips or tree house visits. Anything to make sure that the little girl didn't spend her free time just hanging around the house stressing about the new baby.

Santana looked around the airport, she had slowly began to have a hatred for them. There were just way too many people around. This was why she always drove to the city when she had an art showing. Oh yes, she had finally given in when stories started to emerge about her after all the interviews that Rachel done pertaining to the trial. Expanding her website had been the first thing Artie suggested when he found out she was having internet put in at her cabin so that she could still talk to Rachel while she was gone. So much for living off the grid, but it was a sacrifice she was willing to make for Rachel. She still despised the city and she didn't really care for some of the snooty people who came to her shows, but she kind of needed their money with all the expansions and upgrades that she had done at the cabin and the tree house. She could have used her trust fund since that's what it was set up for, however she had newer plans for some of that money and she didn't want to deplete it and then be scrambling around selling any painting she could to refund it.

Looking at her watch, Santana realized that it was already 3:40 PM. Was Rachel's flight delayed or had she just been really early in all the excitement of Rachel finally coming home. Walking over to the arrival board wasn't much of an option considering that would take her right in front of the doors, where even more paparazzi had seemed to gather. It had been two weeks since she had seen Rachel in person. Rachel had to fly out for some last minute press that had to be done for the new movie that she was in. This was the last trip for everyone in the family for a while. Some how they had gotten lucky and everyone seemed to have the summer pretty much free, despite an opening night or art show here or there.

Santana sighed as she leaned against a far wall away from a lot of the noise and commotion. Crossing her arms she leaned forward and peaked out at the front doors of the airport. Security had finally shown up and was trying to disperse some of the paparazzi. Those idiots better stay away from her custom Jeep Wrangler Sundancer, you can call her pompous if you want but that thing was her baby. It had been a Christmas gift last year that Rachel insisted she accepted after all the work she had put in making the cabin feel like Rachel's home too. She had refused at first simply because she felt she didn't deserve some form of compensation for doing things out of love. Rachel deserved her screen room and rehearsal studio and she had told Rachel that, that's when Rachel claimed that Santana deserved her Jeep. It made it a little easier to accept when she found out that everyone had chipped in so that Rachel wasn't spending all the money by herself. The addition of this Jeep with the one Santana had gotten after the accident, she finally had to expand her garage at the end of her road and put in a newer gate after she found paparazzi lingering down there one day.

Sometimes Santana questioned if this was still her life. Day in and day out, it used to just be her and Dax, working on the property and taking care of the cabin. Now, she had a beautiful girlfriend who should be walking out of the terminal any moment now, her clientele was larger than ever and growing every day, she had been asked to speak at several universities and even asked to serve as an art buyer to several people she only ever dreamed of meeting. Yeah, despite the influx of popularity that came with all of that, her life had turned out pretty great.

* * *

Rachel waited anxiously as everyone around her gathered their carry on bags and began to exit the plane. She had been away for two weeks and she couldn't wait to see Santana. Sure they had spent longer periods of time apart especially when she was filming her latest movie, but this was the last trip she had to take before her break. Now she had a whole four months free despite little things here or there. Hopefully Quinn would have Davis before she had to return to work. Everyone was excited for his arrival, even her father who had kind of claimed all of her friends as his own children. Speaking of her father, he should be arriving home also in the next couple of days since his book tour was coming to a close. Turns out, moving to New York had been great for his writing career, he had published several new books since he moved out here that all had made it onto New York's Best Seller list. A beautiful trilogy that he had written about this gay couple was in the process of being made into movies at the moment. They just needed a few more script revisions before production could begin. Sadly this meant he wouldn't be around as much as everyone else this summer, but he would still be around none the less.

Walking through the doors, Rachel noticed Santana standing against the wall in the farthest corner of the airport. She smiled to herself, Santana still tried to hide as best as she could from the paparazzi. Rachel knew that all of this attention was something that Santana still didn't like. She had tried so hard to keep her name out of the media after the trial, but someone was damn good at digging and they published everything that they could find about the Latina. After Santana expanded her website, which really all she did was make it publicly accessible, art curator's from around the world started sending messages wanting her pieces and from there everything took off. Rachel was just thankful that Santana didn't resent her for all of this.

Instead of stopping to wait for her luggage, Rachel continued walking towards Santana. The woman hadn't looked up yet, just idling observing her fingernails as if they held the answer to whatever Santana was thinking about. Stopping roughly two or three feet in front of Santana, Rachel cleared her throat and waited for a reaction. Santana gasped when she looked up and smiled tearfully as she reached out and grabbed Rachel in a bone crushing hug.

"I'm so glad you're home." Santana spoke, despite her voice being muffled by Rachel's clothes.

"I missed you too." Rachel pulled back momentarily before going in for a long drawn out kiss. Santana sighed, three years later and just like Santana had said, every time she kissed Rachel it was like kissing her again for the first time. Fireworks continued to explode behind her eye-lids as she slid her tongue against Rachel's bottom lip asking for entrance. Rachel moaned into the kiss, they really needed to get out of this airport and get home. Neither of them needed this plastered all over the tabloids. That had already happened once and Quinn was more than willing to kill both of them even if she was currently five months pregnant.

"Take me home San." Rachel breathed against Santana's lips as they parted. Rachel turned towards the door but stopped quickly when she felt a tug on her arm. Santana pulled Rachel back into her, starting up their kiss again.

"Your bags? We can continue this tonight...I have a surprise for you at home." Santana bit her lip as she looked at Rachel's calculating gaze, maybe a party wasn't a good idea to plan for tonight. Everyone was already at the cabin though and soon they would be wondering where they were. Technically this was one of three surprises that Santana had for Rachel. The second one would come tonight in the form of a new four legged fur-baby and the last part of the surprise would come when Leroy was home.

"What kind of surprise?" Rachel asked as she took Santana's hand and walked towards the luggage carousel. She could hear the shutters going off on the paparazzi camera's as they walked in front of the door. They hadn't stopped really since they had seen Rachel.

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"

Rachel sighed as she swung their joined hands back and forth. "I guess not. Can I have a hint though?" Santana pondered the thought for a moment, tapping her index finger on her chin. She shook her head in the negative a moment later and smiled at Rachel's pout, quickly kissing it away.

After waiting for what seemed like forever for Rachel's luggage to come back around on the carousel, the two women were finally heading towards the airport entrance. They both had their heads down as they approached the door and was quickly met with an onslaught of questions and flashing camera's. The security was trying their best to keep a clear walk way for the women, the yelling and screaming was quickly fading into a low murmur in Santana's head. She was always quick to tune these people out, Rachel however felt it was respectful to answer a few questions that she could hear. Santana just tried her best to keep Snixx from coming out.

_"Rachel how was your trip? Happy to be home now?"_

Smiling Rachel answered politely. "It was good and I am very excited to be home."

_"Santana, are you happy to have Rachel home now?"_

Scoffing Santana looked up trying to find whoever had asked that one. These people were so bright or maybe they just couldn't read her excitement through the scowl on her face at them. Really she didn't care for this attention, but sometimes when they didn't ask dumb questions or crowd her like they were doing right now, she could be polite. Rachel who picked up quickly on Santana's annoyance squeezed her hand. Biting back the sarcastic remark that she had waiting on the tip of her tongue, Santana actually responded pleasantly how she was very excited to have Rachel home.

"Are both of you home for the summer?" One guy asked as he walked backwards snapping pictures.

Rachel took the initiative and answered the question. "Yes, we are both home for now. We may sneak away on you guys for a holiday or something." Santana started laughing, last summer they had sneaked away for Santana's first trip to London and was there a whole week before any paparazzi had found them. More camera's started going off when Santana started laughing, pictures of her laughing and smiling for the paparazzi was far and few, therefore they were worth some major pocket change.

As soon as her laughter started it quickly faded away as they reached the Jeep. The paparazzi knew to keep their distance away from the car, at least they were being respectful of that today. Sometimes they weren't and Santana had to fight every instinct to just run them down. She didn't need a lawsuit against her. Santana loaded Rachel's bags into the back of the car with ease as the security came up and made sure that everyone stayed back so that Santana could pull out of her parking space.

"Bye guys." Rachel called as she rolled down her window and waved to everyone.

* * *

They had been on the road for twenty minutes before Rachel started asking again about her surprise that was waiting. Santana contemplated actually telling her, however she knew Rachel would be disappointed if she did. It was all an act, she wanted to know but then again she really didn't since she absolutely loved surprises.

"I will tell you one thing about your surprise...you're going to love it." Santana reached over to adjust the volume on the stereo system casually. That was all that she was going to tell Rachel, they would be home in no time anyway, no reason to ruin the surprise this close to the cabin.

Rachel scoffed and rolled her head against the head rest to look at Santana with an indignant expression. "That's all you're telling me? That I will love it?"

Santana smirked and nodded her head, flicking her eyes to look at Rachel quickly. She wasn't going to tell Rachel about the welcome home party she was having in celebration for a summer break. Rachel didn't need to know about the new yellow border collie puppy name Dahlia chilling in the bathroom at home. Lastly, Rachel couldn't find out about the engagement ring with her name written all over it, hiding in a lock box in the safe in the back of Santana's closet.

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**Welcome Back to my readers who have been waiting for this story to begin and Hello to any new people. I have a good feeling that this is going to be my best story yet. I have took into account all constructive criticisms from the first story and I feel like this one is going be better written and more exciting. I look forward to riding this story train with all of you.**

**A few things: This story will have some sexy times in it. If that bothers you, then I apologize. However, you have been warned.**

**I know that sometimes when there is paparazzi in a story, the author goes with a cheating accusation to shake things up a bit. That's not going to happen here. I'm not a fan of tearing Pezberry apart in any fashion.**

**Lastly, I plan to update this story every two-three days. I feel I can produce better content if I don't try to rush for a morning upload everyday.**

**Pretty sure that's everything for right now. Happy Reading!**


	2. Puppy Love and Small Talks

Santana was a little anxious as she waited for the gate to open that would lead to the cabin. Rachel was sitting quietly in the passenger seat absent mindedly running her thumb across the back of Santana's hand that she was holding. Obviously this wasn't the first welcome home party she had thrown, but Rachel had seemed pretty keen on coming home to get their mack on and Santana was interrupting that with their party tradition. Never the less, the party wouldn't go on all night, their friends did have jobs and children to attend to.

As they pulled up to the cabin, Santana was thankful that everyone had been smart and hid the cars. There wasn't that many to hide since a lot of people had carpooled per Santana's request. She didn't want nearly twenty cars tearing up her yard. Rachel was watching the cabin closely like she expected people to jump out of it, which really they weren't going to be jumping out until they walked inside.

"Why is it so dark in there?" Rachel asked as she turned to look at Santana while she undid her seat belt.

"Oh, I just didn't leave a light on before I left." Santana shrugged her shoulders as she opened her door to climb out. "We can come back out later and get your bags."

Rachel nodded her head as she took Santana's offered hand. By the time they reached the cabin door, Rachel had went from holding Santana's hand to having her arms around Santana's waist. Santana was struggling to get the key in the door without moaning.

"Rachel, I can't focus and you doing that." Santana spoke through gritted teeth.

"What am I doing?" Rachel asked innocently as she dragged her hands upward underneath Santana's button down blouse. She wasn't even sure when Rachel had managed to get it untucked from her jeans.

"That..your hands up my shirt." Santana looked down and motioned to Rachel's hands.

"I'm sorry, they have a mind of their own. It's like I can't control them." Rachel giggled as her hands landed at their destination giving Santana's breasts a firm squeeze. Feeling the air leave her lungs, Santana was torn, she could totally turn and run back to the Jeep right now and get a room at the lodge for the night with Rachel. However, she had a house full of people and two dogs that would be wondering where in the hell she was. Making a decision that she really didn't want to make, Santana stilled Rachel's hand and slowly removed them from her shirt.

"I promise we will continue this later, but right now we need to go get your surprise." Santana kissed Rachel's hands and held them so that she wouldn't be felt up again and turned to open the door. As she stepped inside she pulled Rachel in front of her and flipped on the living room light. Everyone jumped up screaming surprise. Rachel squealed and stumbled back a bit into Santana while taking in her surroundings.

All of Rachel's and Santana's friends had gathered to welcome the singer slash actress home. She could feel Santana's body still pressed against her back and she would give anything to be alone with the woman, but for now she had to do this. Santana wrapped her arms around Rachel's waist and kissed the side of her head.

"Welcome home." Santana grinned as Rachel turned around in her arms.

"This was your surprise? A welcome home party." Rachel quirked her eyebrow at Santana. She kind of knew that this is what was happening. It had became something of a tradition when either one of them would come home. If they could see everyone as soon as they got home, then they wouldn't be bothered at all for a few days. This would definitely work to their advantage, they wouldn't have to see anyone else until her dad arrived home.

"Well, it's more of a welcome home dinner. Puck is going to start the grill and we are going to have a big dinner. But it's not the whole surprise." Now Rachel was really curious. She thought the party was the surprise. "Now, sit, chat, relax. I'll go get you a drink and your surprise." Santana grinned and gave Rachel a quick kiss on the cheek.

Santana wander through the kitchen after delivering Rachel's drink to her. She had left her in the hands of Brittany whom was excited to tell Rachel all about the twins pre-school graduation, that she missed. Dahlia must be sleeping because Santana heard no noise coming from the bathroom. Dax, already taking the big brother role very seriously was laying in front of the bathroom door. Santana stopped to pat his head and greet him before entering the bathroom.

* * *

Rachel sat in Santana's favorite rocking chair and watched her walk towards the bathroom. She had no clue what the woman was doing, but for now she would follow the specific order of to sit and not move. Everyone was milling about the house getting things ready to cook or just hanging out. Beth had taken Artie and Brittany's twins outside to play while Puck went to fire up the grill.

It felt wonderful to be home and be able to see everyone, however Rachel still couldn't wait until they all went home. She really appreciated the warm welcome and she was just as excited to see everyone, but that didn't stop the thoughts for things to come after everyone went home. Having a party or dinner had really became a tradition after Santana came home one day and sexy times had been interrupted several times within a few hours of having Santana home. Quinn had been the first to stop by, followed by Brittany who was there to pick up a painting Santana had done of the twins and then Puck who had found out Santana was home and wanted her to ride ATV's with him and Beth, last was Leroy. He was the one who got the most eye full and that was when it was decided they would come up with a way to see everyone before hand to guarantee alone time afterwards. They really needed less invasive friends...well they were family and family was meant to be invasive.

Rachel shook her head thinking about her father, she couldn't wait until he got home. The man had built a beautiful cabin towards the back side of the mountain and he had a very handsome fiance' who lived with him. He had plenty of things that he could be doing, however he sometimes liked to visit unannounced. Truly, he was the worst at visiting unannounced, Rachel felt like he was still trying to make up all the time that they had lost. With that reason, every spare moment of alone time was beyond cherished. Rocking back and forth Rachel waited for Santana to come out of the bathroom while she listened to Brittany and looked at pictures of the twins in their little cap and gowns.

* * *

Santana opened the bathroom door to find Dahlia covered up with her blanket sleeping away in her bed. She turned when she heard an awe behind her. Santana hadn't even noticed that Quinn had walked up behind her and was peeking over her shoulder at Dahlia.

"She's so precious." Quinn whispered so that she didn't disturb the sleeping puppy.

"She is. I'm so glad I got to the shelter in time. No one wanted her because she was the runt and she was about to grieve herself to death without her mother or siblings." Santana remembered walking through the doors of the shelter after her friend Maurice had called. He had a three month old blonde border collie puppy that wasn't doing well in the shelter and the first person he thought of was Santana.

"It's a good thing Maurice thought of you." Quinn noted as she smiled at Dahlia who appeared to be chasing rabbits. You could see her little paws shuffling under the blanket.

"Well, he knew I had been on the lookout for a new member to add to the family. Dahlia was the perfect fit." Santana shrugged her shoulders. It had been an easy decision to make once she had met the puppy especially when Dahlia went from whining and crying to sleeping happily in Santana's arms while she filed the adoption papers. "After baby Davis gets older you and Puck should get a dog."

"We both work so much, it wouldn't be fair to the dog. Our time is already spread so thin right now...Beth is really feeling it too." Santana turned to look at Quinn, the woman's demeanor had fallen slightly at the mention of Beth.

Santana stepped away from the bathroom door pulling it closed behind her. Wrapping her hand around Quinn's wrist she pulled the woman down the hallway after holding up a finger at Rachel indicating to hang on. "What happened with Beth?" Santana furrowed her brows, whatever was going was serious, Quinn looked like she was about to cry at any minute. Quinn Puckerman-Fabray didn't cry that often, so this was definitely a rare sighting.

"My doctors appointment ran a little late because I was late getting in." Quinn ran her fingers through her hair, she was glad she had gotten it cut despite the myth's about the whole thing. "Anyway, I had promised Beth that I would be out on time to pick her up so she didn't have to ride the practice bus home. You know how she hates being the last stop." Santana nodded her head as she watched Quinn struggle to tell the rest of the story. She could sense where this might be going but she wasn't for sure.

"When I get to the field twenty minutes late, Beth is sitting there on the bench outside of the fence. I could tell she was livid before she even got up." Quinn chuckled a little bit at that. She could read her daughter like an open book considering she had her mother's temper. "She's mad because I didn't call to tell her to go ahead and get on the bus since I was going to be late. I was already in the exam room when I realized what time it actually was and couldn't call. So I called as soon as I got out, but turns out her phone was dead. That became my fault somehow too. Anyway, we argue and she just snapped."

"What do you mean she snapped? Did she hit you or something? I will go after that little blonde ass of hers right now if she did Quinn." Quinn started shaking her head rapidly at Santana's words. She could have worded that better.

"She would never hit me. A hit would have been better than what she said though." Quinn sighed as she leaned her head against the wall. The words still bouncing around her head.

"Quinn, what did she say?" Santana asked as she crossed her arms and studied the blonde woman in front of her. It must have been something pretty horrific for Quinn to wish she had been hit and be this upset about it.

"She said she wished that I had never gotten pregnant with Davis. She apologized after she realized what she said, but I have never seen her so angry. It was like that was the final straw for her." Quinn shrugged her shoulders as she ran her hands over her baby bump like she was apologizing to Davis for even repeating what his sister had said.

Santana was shocked, she never thought such an ill thing could come out of Beth's mouth. But on the other hand, the child already shared both of her parents with the rest of the world and now she was going to have share them with Davis. She was used to being the only child and sometimes you just feel too much at once and things come out in the heat of the moment. She wasn't excusing Beth's behavior, but she really knew how the young girl felt, minus the sibling part. Still she seemed to be at a loss for words. "I have no idea what to say to that."

"Right? What do you say to that?" Quinn let out a dry chuckle as she proceeded to bounce her head against the wall.

"What did Puck say when you told him?"

"He wanted to ground her." Quinn rolled her eyes. Pucks heart was in the right place, but this wasn't something you just grounded a kid over. Yeah she would be grounded for the way she spoke to Quinn but this was something much deeper.

"Do...do you want me to talk to her? I mean I'm an only child and I know nothing about getting siblings to bond but I don't know. I know what it feels like to not have my parents around as much as I would like." Santana rubbed the back of her neck. She didn't want Quinn to feel like she was overstepping her boundaries.

Quinn smiled at the way Santana was acting. "I think she would like that. She's just going to have to accept that there is going to be a new baby around the house. There's nothing I can do here except spend as much time with her as I possibly can."

Taking Quinn's hand into her own, Santana gave it a squeeze. "For what it's worth, you're a great mom Q. I know you haven't done much to Davis' room yet, but maybe Beth would like to help with that. I can let her help me do the mural and she can help pick out his clothes. You know? Like, the more you show her that he is coming and is going to stay, she might embrace her big sister role more. What do I know though?"

Quinn was staring at Santana in awe. Why hadn't she thought of that? Maybe letting Beth be more involved would be a small turning point. After the summer was over and all the time that Quinn planned to spend with Beth, hopefully things would be better. She missed her sweet daughter, she didn't care too much for this mini attitude version of herself. "You just gave me the best idea ever." Quinn kissed Santana's cheek and practically skipped back to the living room. Santana just shook her head smiling and went back to the bathroom to wake Dahlia and introduce her to Rachel.

* * *

**Majority of Guest reviews will be ignored, unless they contain constructive criticism. I'm not going to change them to approval first because you have a right to share your opinion. I have the right to ignore it. This one time I will say this. Santana's successes are her own, yes she may have been tossed into the spot light because of her known association with Rachel, but she was very well off selling paintings before without Rachel, why would she need her now? She went public with her website with encouragement from Rachel, Artie and private investors that I mentioned in the first story. She would have became popular either way in the long run. Also, never has it been implied that Rachel and Santana are asexual, they don't have to be bumping uglies as soon as they see each other. It was the first chapter, my writing style and this thirst for sex that you have, would have them having sex in the airport or Santana's jeep and that opens a whole new can of worms. They have plenty of time to reunite after the party/dinner. Lastly, Quinn and Pucks relationship is just basic writing, I don't see how that bleeds passion. **

**With all of that said, if sex is all you're interested in with this story, then you are going to be very disappointed, at least until around chapter 4 roughly. I write in reference to what I like to read, I have even stopped reading stories before because there was sex every single chapter and I just found it too excessive. That's my opinion and if you find it silly, that's fine, I don't mind. **

**Bottom Line, I'm not going to write sex into every chapter, so it's best to move along if that's what you're expecting. Also, by the ending of the first story, no they hadn't had sex yet because Santana was still recovering and Rachel wasn't going to risk further injury. **

**Anyway, thank you for all the views, reviews, follows and favorites. I apologize that the names weren't tagged for easier findings when I first posted the story. I had tagged them and then when I went to submit, I typed the captcha wrong and it reset. I didn't see that it untagged the names, so thank you to the reviewer who asked. I probably wouldn't have noticed without you. **

**I also apologize for the long ass note, it definitely won't be happening again. **


	3. Dahlia and B

Rachel watched as Quinn came back into the living room with a little more bounce in her step. She wondered what exactly her and Santana had been chatting about. Whatever it was, she was sure Santana would tell her about it later. Which..Rachel wondered what in the hell Santana was up too. Rachel could see her trying to be sneaky about going back into the bathroom for something. Rachel really wanted to know what was in there, however, knowing Santana there was no telling what she had hidden in there.

* * *

Santana stepped into the bathroom quietly closing the door behind her. Dahlia must be a really heavy sleeper because she still hadn't made a peep. Squatting down to rest on the balls of her feet, Santana leaned forward to lift the little puppy out of her bed. Dahlia started whining at being woken up but soon quieted back down when she realized that it was the nice lady who had brought her home.

"Shhhh, baby." Santana petted the puppy on her little blonde head as she reached back to grab the bow that she had hid under the sink. "Let's go meet your other new mommy little one." Carefully carrying the puppy in her arms, Santana exited the bathroom and headed towards Rachel who looked like she was going to scream with excitement.

* * *

Rachel's eyes grew bigger in size as Santana approached with what she could only assume was a puppy in her arms. She could see it's little head bobbing up and down with each step that Santana took. Dax was bouncing around Santana's feet wanting to play with his little sister. He was still learning that he had to be gentle with her because she wasn't as big as he was. Yes, the little blonde puppy would be his new best friend and he would teach her the ways of the land!

"This is your other surprise. Meet Dahlia." Santana spoke as she stopped in front of Rachel and everyone gathered around to see what she was holding. Rachel clasped her hands over her mouth so that the squeal that came out wouldn't startle the puppy.

"Oh, Santana. She's precious." Rachel took the puppy into her arms, cradling her like a baby.

"Well, she's yours. Of course we have to train her and stuff. But I know you've always felt like Dax was just mine even though I am sure you are his favorite now. This little girl can be both of ours." Santana reached out and ran her fingers over the puppy's ear. Dahlia yapped like she had been hurt and reveled in the awes and coos she received. Oh, so she liked attention...her and Rachel were going to get along just fine.

* * *

Once the excitement of the new puppy had settled down, the party or cookout which ever you wanted to call it was underway again. Rachel had decided that she would thank Santana properly later for the puppy, it would be inappropriate with a house full of people.

Santana had just delivered a plate of burgers to Puck when she spotted Beth sitting on the porch swing by herself. The twins must have wore her out, they had been going strong even before Santana left for the airport. Sitting down quietly Santana wrapped an arm around Beth's shoulders and pulled the young girl into her side.

"How are you doing B?" Santana asked as she began to run her fingers through Beth's long blonde locks.

"I'm okay. Just tired." Beth sighed as she leaned back into her aunt.

"Just okay? I noticed you have been avoiding your mom all afternoon." Santana stated casually. Beth wasn't dumb, she knew her aunt and mom had talked earlier. She had seen them going into the hallway when she came inside to get some juice for the twins.

"I wasn't avoiding her, I was just playing with the twins. I rarely get to see them." Beth shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. Really in her head it wasn't.

Santana raised her eyebrow at her niece. "I know you love the twins and all, but I also know that their version of tag is just you chasing them and that gets boring after a while. Plus I also saw you ducking and weaving to get away from her earlier."

"She told you what I said didn't she?" Beth asked as she looked up at Santana.

Santana nodded her head as she responded. "She did. You want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but I am sure you are going to make me." Beth replied cheekily. She really was her mother's daughter, but that smirk she definitely got from her Auntie San.

Santana gave Beth a pointed glare. This wasn't the time to be getting smart about this situation, something was seriously troubling the oldest Puckerman-Fabray child. "Why do you wish that your mom wasn't pregnant with Davis?" Santana always had a knack for being blunt and in this situation that was really the only way to go. Get it all out in the open and then try to talk about it. It was something she was still learning to do herself with the help of Rachel.

Beth squinted her eyes and looked over to the grill where her father was standing. "Did you know Daddy has blown off my birthday camping trip three times now because of work or going with mom to the doctor?" Santana was confused, that wasn't what she had asked about. Beth continued before Santana could make her confusion known. "That's not the first time Mom has told me she would pick me up and then was late either. Then she's missed two of my last games because she was out of town with Aunt Rachel and couldn't make it back on time." Beth bowed her head as her tears that had been threatening to fall finally started to make their way down her cheeks. "You know there was even an athletic awards banquet at school. I got the overall MVP award for the season too, but I didn't tell anyone. With Davis coming they're going to have even less time for me...no one will have time for me."

Santana was shocked, how in the world was Beth able to get by without mentioning something as big as an awards banquet? "Why didn't you tell anyone about the banquet?"

Beth shrugged her shoulders. "It just didn't seem like anyone cared. Mom and Aunt Rachel were out of town for movie press, Daddy was finishing a new album with that new band and you were busy at the tree house that night."

Realization suddenly hit Santana like a tidal wave. It wasn't just her parents that she was missing, Beth was missing everyone. "We would have all been there had you told us. Your mom and Rachel would have flown back in just for the banquet, I would have been there and your Daddy definitely would have. You know how he goes crazy at your soccer games."

Beth laughed at that. Her Daddy was always one fight or curse word from being ejected from her games when they got heated. "I just don't feel as important anymore. Nobody needs me." Beth tried to wipe away her tears without her aunt really noticing, however Santana did notice.

"Everyone needs you and you're definitely super important. I also know someone who is really going to need you."

Beth looked up at her aunt puzzled. "Who?"

"Davis will." Santana really tried to keep her voice from cracking. Beth always seemed to make her emotional in some way or another. "I know you didn't mean what you said to your mom. I know you lashed out from a place of hurt and that's something I know a lot about. It's okay to feel whatever you're feeling, but it's not okay to take it out on your parents. You have to talk to them, calmly about it. Davis didn't ask to be brought into this world, but in four months he's going to be here. Your parents will be around more when he gets here, sure their time will be divided between you two but they will be around." Santana was actually proud of her little speech, she was getting good at this talking stuff, even if she didn't care that much for it. Maybe Rachel's help was actually paying off, no there was no maybe to it. It definitely was paying off.

"I guess that's a good reason to like him a little bit." Beth sniffled and smiled a small smile.

Santana chuckled and pulled Beth closer to her. "That's a very good reason to like him. Plus like I said he will need you too, not just your Mom and Dad. Who's going to teach him how to kick a soccer ball? I've seen both of your parents try to play and they stink at it. He'll need someone to hold him when he gets scared at night and your parents room is too far away because the house is dark. You can teach him everything you know before he goes into pre-school. You can turn him into a baby genius. They'll be things that you're the first person he'll want to tell and they'll be things that he will tell you because to him, you will be the only one who might understand. You know, life is a rough road for many people and having someone next to you makes it a little less rough. You can be that person for him."

"You really think he will need me for all of that?" Beth asked a little unsure.

Santana nodded her head. "I'm positive, because there will come a time when maybe he feels like you do now. Because there is no denying that your parents work a lot, it's their careers though and they love what they do and they're damn good at it. Don't repeat that word." Santana pointed her finger at Beth who just grinned. "But they love you and Davis the same and both of you do come first, even if it doesn't feel like it right now. They work like they do so that you and now Davis can have the best life they can provide for you. My parents worked all the time, but I was well provided for. But that's where my parents and your parents differ. My parents never tried to make anything up to me. Your parents do. I know that your Dad will take you on that camping trip as soon as he can and your mom will try her best not to be late again. But that means you have to keep your phone charged so you know if she isn't going to make it. And when Davis comes and he's crying and spitting up and peeing all over the place and you feel over whelmed, my door is always open. Me and Aunt Rachel, Dax and Dahlia would love to spend time with you."

"I think I will be okay once he gets here and we can be a family." Beth smiled as she looked back over to her dad who was singing and dancing around using his spatula as a microphone.

"I think you will be okay too. Oh! I also wanted to ask you something." Hopefully this would make Beth just a little more excited about Davis. Something she could brag to him about as soon as he came into the world. "Would you like to help me do the mural for Davis' room?"

Beth gasped as she looked at her aunt. She still wasn't aloud to touch her Auntie San's expensive paints even though she was eleven now. "Are you serious?!"

"I'm very serious. You know being a big sister comes with new responsibilities and a new level of maturity. I think you are more than capable of helping me out." Santana gave Beth as serious look.

"I would love to! Thank you Auntie San" Beth yelled with delight as she wrapped her arms around Santana's neck.

* * *

Quinn smiled to herself as she watched the exchange between Beth and Santana. She loved the fact that Santana was so good with Beth and that they truly held a bond that only an aunt and niece would know about. Even though Santana wasn't her aunt by blood, at least she had someone since Frannie was never around.

"Whatcha doing?" Rachel spoke as she walked up behind Quinn, Dahlia still safely snuggled in her arms.

Quinn jumped and spun around, quietly closing the door behind her. Santana really should have gotten bells for Rachel when they first met. Three years later and the woman still didn't make a sound when she walked. "I was just watching Santana and Beth."

"How's she doing?" Rachel asked while nodding her head towards the door. Quinn walked around Rachel and sat down on the couch, her back was really starting to hurt today.

"I think she's a bit better after talking to Santana. I just feel awful that she's so upset and this is one time that Puck and I can't just magically make it better. But I am going to have a talk with Puck about us doing more stuff as a family and working on getting as much one on one time with her before Davis gets here. I'm also going to get some books about big sisters for her. I don't know why I didn't think of that before." Quinn sighed as she rubbed her hand across her forehead.

"You can't think of everything at once. Yeah it's your second child but it's your first time creating siblings. It's a whole new learning experience for everyone. Are they going to get along? How do I help them get along? How's Davis going to be like his sister? Is he going to be an "easy" baby like Beth was or is he going to be a howler up all hours of the night? Do you know what I mean? I don't even know if I am making sense." Rachel waved her hands around in the air, trying not to disturb Dahlia who was snuggled on her lap since she had sat down.

"No no, you're making sense actually. I know how to raise one daughter, raising a daughter and a son is a new ball game. Their needs are going to be the same in one way and in another they're not. Like, if Puck and I had another baby after Davis, it would be a bit easier because we would have already learned how to help them bond as siblings. So yeah, I get what you're saying." Quinn patted Rachel's hand that was now resting on the couch.

"Well either way, you and Puck are great parents. Beth is going to be an amazing big sister to Davis." Rachel smiled as Santana came in announcing that it was finally time to eat because she was starving. Rachel wondered if her and Santana would ever be in the same situation as Puck and Quinn. It was definitely something to think about.

* * *

**Don't worry, obviously this story is still in very very early chapters. There will plenty of things going on with Santana and Rachel's story line, as you soon will see. Also they will forever be the main characters, interactions with minor characters doesn't change that. It just pulls momentary focus to one main and minor character instead of two main characters all the time. No need to fret, we have a whole lot of story to go. This one may even be a good number of chapters longer than the first story.**

**Thank you once again for all the view, reviews, favorites and follows. You guys have no idea how much it all means to me.**


	4. From Oh Yes to Oh No

The cabin was quiet, it had been that way for a while now since everyone had headed home a few hours ago. Rachel and Santana sat snuggled on the couch as Dax and Dahlia laid together on the sectional at their feet. The welcome home dinner had been a true success. Everyone had eaten, drank and just spent time with each other. It was nice to have everyone under one roof for a while. Now though, Rachel had other plans, she was ready for her one on one time with her lovely girlfriend.

Rachel shifted on the couch so that half of her body was laying on Santana whom had her eyes closed and was absent mindedly playing with Rachel's hair. "Santannnaaa." Rachel sing songed quietly as she traced her fingers along Santana's collar bone. When all she got was an affirmative hum from Santana, Rachel decided to get a little more creative. Starting from where her head was resting on Santana's shoulder, Rachel started kissing her way across Santana's collar bone slowly moving towards the woman's neck.

Feeling lips moving across her neck, Santana tried to contain her moan. Rachel's knee, which was resting between Santana's legs, felt like it had a mind of its own. With the way Rachel was laying she was unknowingly applying a steady pressure to Santana's center every time she moved. Moving her arm, Santana rested her right hand on Rachel's hip. She turned her head to the left connecting her lips with Rachel's for a searing kiss.

"I wondered when you were going to acknowledge me." Rachel stated as she pulled back a bit and stared down at Santana.

Santana smirked as she slid her left hand down Rachel's back to join her right hand which was now planted firmly on Rachel's behind. She flexed her hands as she pulled Rachel's body closer to hers, letting Rachel know just how aware she was of her antic's. "I would never ignore you." Santana whispered as she kissed Rachel again, slowly moving from her lips down her neck, simply returning the feel good favor. Letting her head fall forward Rachel shivered when Santana kissed a particular spot just underneath her ear lobe.

Using what leverage she hand, Santana guided Rachel to laying completely on top of her continuing to kiss one of Rachel's sweet spots. She smiled to herself when she felt Rachel moan against her neck. "Let's go upstairs." Santana spoke as she ran her hands up and down Rachel's back slowly pulling up her shirt. She had made the suggestion, however she wasn't even sure she herself could make it upstairs.

"Let's just stay here." Rachel whispered as she pushed herself up so that she was hovering over Santana.

"That would be a good idea if we didn't have a small audience." Santana nodded her head towards the end of the couch where Dax and Dahlia were laying, but apparently had woken up.

Rachel huffed as she rolled off the couch and collected Dahlia in her arms to drop her off in her puppy play pen. "Time for you to go night night. Can't have you or your brother interrupting getting my mack on." Rachel spoke as she ruffled Dahlia's ears, stopping in her tracks when she realized what she had said. If she was going to start saying things like _get my mack on_, maybe this whole being in a relationship thing with Santana was a bad idea. Nah, they had already been together three years, what's a couple more in the form of forever.

After making sure Dahlia and Dax had everything they needed, Rachel turned to see that Santana was missing. She must have already went up the stairs without Rachel, which was fine as long as Santana didn't start without her. Rachel grinned mischievously as she double checked the front door lock and also made her way up the stairs, noticing an odd piece of clothing here or there.

* * *

After pulling off the majority of her clothes on the way up the stairs, Santana settled on the bed waiting for Rachel to come join her. She really wanted to check on Rachel's ring, but she knew she didn't have time. She would be caught red handed if she even attempted to get it out of the safe hidden in her closet. She could hear Rachel quietly murmuring to Dahlia and Dax, really Dahlia was the only one who needed a little extra care. Dax knew where all of his stuff was and he was more than capable of getting it all himself.

Santana could feel the giddy butterflies battling around in anticipation for Rachel to make her way up the stairs. The arousal that had been coursing through her body moments ago had never wavered, only increasing ten fold when she saw Rachel coming up the stairs. Rachel had this dark look in her eyes that Santana knew well, she was going to be in for a long night.

* * *

Rachel wasn't at all surprised to see Santana already half naked on the bed when she stepped into the loft. Really, she had picked up Santana's shirt and jeans on her way up the stairs. Tossing the clothes into the hamper next to the railing, Rachel went to pull her own shirt off when Santana jumped up, scrambling across the bed to stop her.

"Let me do it. I haven't undressed you for two weeks." Santana smirked as she pulled Rachel's shirt over her head.

"Well you could have undressed me sooner, had you not had the dinner today."

Santana leaned in connecting her lips with Rachel's so that she could slide her hands around the woman's back to undo her bra. "I know, I'm sorry." Santana said as she made her way down Rachel's neck, enjoying the loud moan she received. "It's tradition though to get it out of the way. Now we have no worries about anyone coming around in the morning and I can have my favorite breakfast." Rachel blushed at that hiding her face in Santana's neck, whom was enjoying how Rachel still went red when she mentioned going down on her.

"Yeah, yeah, less talking, more kissing." Santana growled as she dove back in connecting her lips with Rachel's once again as she pulled Rachel's bra straps down and let the garment fall to the floor. Rachel took the opportunity to undo Santana's bra when hers was released, she would never be able to stop looking at Santana's body. The woman was absolutely stunning. Rachel's hands began to follow the path that her eyes were taking as they roamed all over Santana's body before settling on her breasts. Using her palms Rachel began to work Santana's nipples into stiff peaks. She could feel more than hear Santana moaning and starting to pant in her ear.

Santana began to run her hands up and down Rachel's back soon bringing them around to the front of Rachel's jeans. It wasn't fair that she was the only one left in nothing but her underwear. She pushed Rachel's jeans down her hips and paused where her lips were against Rachel's shoulder in order to help her step out of them. Now that she was free of her jeans, Rachel used what leverage she had to push Santana gently onto the bed following suit and straddling the woman.

From there things really began to take off as Rachel began to grind herself into Santana whom was trying desperately to get her hands on Rachel. However, Rachel had a different plan as she used all of her strength to keep Santana's hands restrained above her head. "Rachel..let me touch you." Santana breathed out as she watched Rachel maintain the determined look on her face. She smirked and shook her head, she was not about to let Santana go anytime soon, she was going to pay for keeping her waiting all day.

* * *

Santana groaned at the sunlight that came streaming in the large window next to her bed. Why in the hell didn't she pull the blinds last night? Good thing she didn't have any neighbors, they might have gotten a free show. She was about to turn over and snuggle into the warm naked body next to her when a phone somewhere in the cabin began to chime. Neither Dax nor Dahlia particularly liked the sound seeing as they both were now barking or well in Dahlia's case attempting to bark. It was still a work in progress.

Huffing, Santana tossed back her covers and grabbed her robe to head downstairs and find the source of the annoying noise. This is why she didn't care for phones of any type, if someone wasn't calling then another person was texting, she didn't need to talk to people this often or this early in the morning. After stumbling around the cabin in a sleep induced haze, Santana found the source of the chiming laying on the kitchen island. Of course it was Rachel's phone, she spoke to at least fifty more people than Santana did on any given day.

Pressing the home button on Rachel's phone, Santana waited for the screen to light up. She wasn't going to purposely go through Rachel's phone, she had no reason to. Just by hitting the home button she would be able to read enough to know if she should take the phone to Rachel or not. Thankfully she didn't have to disturb Rachel seeing as it was only a message from Leroy letting them know that he would be home later that day instead of the next morning. This was a great thing, with Leroy coming home early that meant that the time to propose to Rachel was getting closer and Santana couldn't be more excited. She just really hoped Rachel would say yes.

* * *

Noticing that it was nearing 8 AM, Santana decided to go ahead and stay up to prepare some breakfast for her and Rachel. Walking around the kitchen and down the hall into the cellar, she collected everything she would need for some breakfast parfaits consisting of yogurt, mango, blueberries and granola. Now all I have to do is decide which granola to use, Santana thought to herself. Trying to decide between strawberry or blueberry granola was actually a much harder decision than she had anticipated. What the hell, use both! Santana grinned triumphantly to herself, then she frowned. She really needed to make more granola, they were starting to run low.

When she was almost done putting the finishing touches onto the parfaits, she was interrupted by Dax scratching at the front door ready to go out for his morning potty run. Dahlia had apparently decided to go back to sleep when she realized that the chime that had woken her earlier was nothing to be concerned about. After breakfast Santana would take her outside with her so that they could start work on her training.

Looking over the tray that Santana had set up with breakfast, she double checked that she had everything. Now she was going to wake Rachel. So what if she liked to make her woman breakfast in bed every once in a while, she could totally be romantic like that. However, before she could reach the stairs, there was a loud knocking on the front door. When did Dax learn to knock like that? Santana knew she was good at training dogs, but she didn't know that she was that good. When the knock sounded through the cabin again, Santana decided that within reasoning that definitely wasn't Dax.

Tightening her robe tighter around her body, Santana walked over to the front door, pulling it open to reveal Duncan and Chief Sylvester. Oh no..something was definitely going on...three years was a good run without any real significant drama. Whatever they wanted could actually be nothing, but something in the pit of her stomach told Santana otherwise.

"Where's Rachel?" Sue asked as she walked into the cabin without waiting for an invitation.

"Hi, good morning. Please come in." Santana snarked as she motioned to the living room behind her.

"Sorry, to just show up like this. But, we really need to know where Rachel is. Is she home?" Duncan, the ever poised never wavering man, looked a little nervous. Well if he looked nervous then that was enough reason to make Santana a bit nervous.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Santana took a defensive pose. She didn't know what they wanted with Rachel but she was going to find out. "What's going on?"

Duncan looked over to Sue who looked like she was about to blow her top. She didn't have time to deal with Santana's antics this morning. "Lopez, is Rachel home or not?"

Santana scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Of course she is home, where else would she be?"

Sue and Duncan both deflated with sighs of relief. "We were worried she was out, like at the gym or something. You know how she likes to take off before I do a security check in town."

Santana nodded her head. Rachel and Duncan seemed to have this odd little game going on where she always tried to sneak past him on the mornings he was posted at the gate running security. Really, Rachel was the one who insisted on hiring him but she felt it was unnecessary to go to town before she could leave. Duncan actually didn't do as many town checks as he used to since it had been quiet for a while now, however this morning proved that you can never get too comfortable when you live a life in the public eye.

"Okay...are you going to tell me what's going on now?" Santana really wanted to know now.

Sue finally decided that it was her time to speak up. "Go wake Rachel and please for the love of higher powers put some clothes on. Then we can talk."

"Fine, but go in the kitchen. I don't want either of you to see either of us naked. And we will be having breakfast when we come back down. There's plenty left along with fresh coffee if either of you are hungry." Spinning on her heel, Santana made her way back to the stairs so that she could go wake Rachel up and find out what the hell was going on.


	5. On The Run

Santana stood at the top of the stairs and waited for Duncan and Sue to enter the kitchen before she walked over the bed. The sunlight must have started to wake Rachel also because she had her head buried underneath the covers. Santana smiled at the site, all she could see was Rachel's long brown hair sticking out from the top of the blanket.

"Rachelllll." Santana spoke quietly, she didn't want to startle the woman awake. Grabbing the edge of the covers, she started to pull them down slowly revealing Rachel's head. The woman groaned and slid down the bed trying her bed to keep her head hidden. "Wake up babe. Sue and Duncan are here, they want to talk to us." Santana sighed when she still received no response other than an un-lady like grunt. Rachel whom was normally up at the crack of dawn with Santana on most days refused to get up today for some reason. Deciding to switch tactics Santana released her hold on the blanket and walked to the end of the bed. She had to do this quick before Sue got impatient and started yelling for them to hurry up. Gathering the blanket in her hands, Santana made sure she had a firm grip on the blanket and sheet before jerking forcefully, successfully exposing Rachel's naked body to the cool air of the loft bedroom.

Rachel shrieked when she felt the coolness of the room settle over her, she couldn't believe that Santana had just done that. Especially after relaying the information that Sue and Duncan was in their home. "Santana, what are you doing?!" She glared at the woman standing at the end of the bed smirking with an armful full of their bedding.

"We have to get dressed and go back downstairs. Something is going on and they aren't talking until we go down there. Chop chop, breakfast is ready too." Santana dropped the blankets and walked over to her closet pulling out some sweats and t-shirts for her and Rachel to put on. This wasn't the time to make sure that they look super presentable or whatever, at least she wasn't coming back down the stairs naked.

Rachel wondered what could be going on and then she remembered her dad was still out of town. Had something happened to him? Quickly putting on her underwear and clothes that Santana had tossed to her, Rachel took off down the stairs, skidding to a halt in the kitchen. She looked back and forth from Duncan to Sue, they seemed off but their expressions didn't change to looks of pity. That meant there was still a hope that nothing had happened to her father.

"My dad...is he okay?" Rachel asked with pleading eyes. She felt like someone had a vice grip on her heart twisting it tighter and tighter.

Duncan cleared his throat and stood up from where he had been seated at the island. "I promise Leroy is fine. He said he left you a message that he was coming home tonight. I spoke to him before we came up here."

Santana who had finally made her way down the stairs spoke from behind Rachel. "He text you earlier, I was going to tell you when I brought up breakfast, before I was interrupted by these two." Santana waved her hand in the direction of Sue and Duncan. "Now will you two please tell us what is going on?" Grabbing the tray that she had prepared earlier, Santana unloaded it onto the island so that she and Rachel could also sit down to eat.

Duncan looked to Sue to take the lead. He really didn't want to be the one to deliver this news. Santana was slowly growing impatient. They both made it seem like this was super important and now they weren't saying anything. Finally Sue stood up from the island and began to pace, however she refused to look Rachel or Santana in the eyes.

"Conner Porter escaped from prison this morning." That was the best way to do this. Just tell them the main problem and then work on how they were going to keep them safe.

Santana's spoon clattered to her bowl, Rachel sat there not saying anything her breathing slowly becoming shallow. "How...how did he escape? Where did he go? Is he still loose?" Santana seemed to recover first as she began spouting questions off as soon as they came to her head.

Sue held up her hand, effectively cutting Santana off. "He was at the hospital for swallowing some not so nice items, his guard fell asleep and we think he knew someone at the hospital who helped him undo his cuffs. Yes he is still loose and we are working on figuring out exactly where he has went or where he is going."

Before Santana could ask anymore questions, Rachel spoke up. "You think he is coming here, don't you?" She didn't even need an answer, obviously they thought he would try and come here. Neither of them would have came around this early in the morning if everything was okay.

"I'm taking care of everything up here on the property. I'm sending my guys around to do more perimeter checks and we will be up here full time until he is caught." Duncan tried to assure the women the best that he could that they were going to be safe. He would never let anything happen to them, their safety was his life. Some people never understood that when you became a body guard and headed a security team your clients came first no matter what.

The kitchen went quiet as the news settled into a stifling silence. Rachel couldn't stop her mind from reeling, Conner had escaped. Someone had helped him escape. Three years of complete radio silence from those men and now all of a sudden her life could possibly be turned upside down again and all for what? Why had he escaped, did he do it for his brothers? She wasn't aware of them having very much contact with each other, of course there were always ways in prison that the men could chat with each other. Rachel still hadn't regained all of her memories from that weekend even with more therapy from Dr. St. James. The last time she had had a flash back was more than a year ago. She had been out on a date with Santana at some restaurant and dropped her spoon. When she leaned over to pick it up a gentleman a couple of tables over had on these bright shoes that triggered something. The shoes didn't trigger much just the instance when James tossed her over his shoulder to place her under Cross Peak.

Slamming her fist against the counter, Rachel stood up abruptly. "I refuse to start living my life in fear of what ever it is that those men may be planning. You can beef up the security and go back to doing more town checks, but I am not going to let that stop me. We have a beautiful home and I love living here, but I refuse to spend everyday until he is caught practically locked up in here. I just won't do it." Shaking her head, Rachel couldn't help the angry tears that began to fall. The Porter's at one point in time had such a hold on her life and she be damned if she let them have that hold again.

"Hey, don't worry. They'll catch him and we'll be okay." Santana spoke softy as she reached out to place her hand gently on Rachel's arm. Sue watched the two women interact, she really hated that all of this was happening. She might just kill the guard that was supposed to be watching Conner in that damn hospital.

Sue pulled out her notepad so that she could go over the plan of action that she had already started on. "Practically the whole state is on the look out for him. First off, we have road checks to be set up at both main road entrances into town. If he is on his way here, then he will most likely try and come into town tonight. We also have the mountain ranger and his crew keeping all eyes on the trails. I have a couple of officers on their way to Woodland Cabins, he may go there if he gets that far." Keeping an eye on the trails was so much easier now. After everything that happened with Rachel and the incident with the group of hikers who got lost, new measures where taken to ensure that things like that never happened again. Several live streaming camera's were installed on the main trials, along with GPS systems that were set up for convenience of the hiker if their personal GPS system failed. All they had to do was find one, send out the ping and help would soon be on the way. If you found a GPS system then you were too far off the main trail and it was best to stay put. "I promise and you know I don't make those willy nilly, that we will find him and we will find out what they may be planning."

Duncan looked at his watch, his security team would be arriving soon and he needed to brief them on the severity of what they were getting into. "Okay, I am off to meet my guys. I know you want to go pick your dad up this evening Rachel and you can, but I will have two of my guys trailing you. Please don't be stubborn about this, you won't even know they're around."

Rachel sighed and shuffled her feet, she wanted to argue she wanted to fight this, but she knew that Duncan was just doing what was best for her. She didn't want to live in fear right? Knowing some of the security guys were around would aid in relieving some of that fear. "Okay, but if I see them I will unleash my fists of fury."

Santana snorted into her glass, successfully almost strangling herself on the orange juice she was drinking. "Sorry." She apologized as she sat her glass down and wiped her mouth. Jeez, strangling yourself on orange juice could really pack a punch. Totally worth it to see Rachel standing there with her hands on her hips giving Santana an incredulous look. Yeah, her girl totally had fists of fury..insert internal eye roll here. She wasn't about to physically do an eye roll, she didn't want Rachel to unleash her fists of fury early than needed today.

"As fun as this had been, we both need to get going." Sue motioned to her and Duncan. "I will call later with updates. Hopefully they catch this bastard soon, I don't need him causing trouble in my town again." Rachel walked Sue and Duncan to the door, quietly closing it once they both had left.

"What are we going to do Santana?" Rachel asked as she walked back into the kitchen.

"We are going to do exactly what you said. We aren't going to live in fear of them, the police will catch him. He really couldn't have gotten far and if he is on the roads he will be spotted." Santana hugged Rachel close to her body. She began wondering if going through with the engagement plans was still a good idea. She couldn't let this stop her, Rachel was going to be her fiance'...hopefully and then her wife. No one could take that away from her, well except Rachel herself.


	6. Permission Granted

Santana drummed her fingers on her steering wheel as she and Rachel made their way to the airport to pick up Leroy. After Sue and Duncan had left that morning, Rachel hadn't said much about the subject. Santana could tell that every scenerio that could possibly play out was running around in Rachel's mind. Hopefully Conner would be captured soon and their minds could be at ease. Santana had made the decision to go ahead and move forward with her plans to propose to Rachel. She would be a hypocrite if she told Rachel they were going to go about their normal lives and then she backed out of proposing.

Internally shaking her head at herself, Santana remembers how nervous she was to talk to Leroy about asking Rachel to marry her. She had been planning on talking to him for a while and she had finally found the time when Rachel left to do the last bit of press that she had just came home from.

* * *

**2 Weeks Before**

Walking through the cabin, Santana was searching for her phone, she had gathered all of her courage to call Leroy and ask him to dinner. Normally she wasn't so nervous, I mean it was just dinner right? No, this dinner would be the one that could possibly change her future. She was going to ask Leroy for Rachel's hand in marriage. Sure, it was incredibly old fashioned but that was just how she rolled.

Santana found her phone in the kitchen laying on the island and anxiously searched through her contacts for Leroy's number. Holding her breath she listened for Leroy's voice to interrupt the ringing.

_"Hello Santana! How are you this morning?"_

_"I'm good and you?"_ Santana was trying not to vomit. Really were the patterns on the island starting move or was that just her?

_"I'm great. I assume Rachel got to the airport on time this morning?"_ Leroy had already said his goodbye's to Rachel last night when her and Santana had came over for dinner.

_"Yeah, I got back from dropping her off about an hour ago. Listen I was calling to ask if you would like to have dinner with me tonight if you aren't busy?"_ Santana asked hopeful. She really hoped that Leroy wasn't busy, the possibility of her losing her nerve was growing with every second.

_"Santana are you asking me out on a date?"_ Leroy joked. _"I love you dearly, I consider you to be my daughter just as much as Rachel, but this is a little extreme."_

Santana laughed, thankful that Leroy was able to break up the tension she was feeling. _"You can call it a date if you want. But I would like to talk to you about something that is really important to me tonight."_

Detecting the seriousness of Santana's tone, Leroy wondered what exactly was going on. If dinner was how Santana wanted to talk, then dinner it would be. _"Sure, I have an early lunch meeting with a book store owner in a bit, but I will be in St. Lawrence this evening. Is around sevenish okay?"_

_"Yeah, seven is fine. Do you want to try that new Japanese place, Benihana?"_

_"That sounds lovely. I will see you this evening. Oh and Santana...whatever it is you need to talk about, it will be okay."_

I sure hope so, Santana mumbled to herself. After hanging up the phone Santana set about to finishing up anything that needed to be done around the cabin. She really was just looking for a way to keep her mind busy until it was time to leave in...nine hours. Oh wow, she still had all day to kill.

After practically cleaning the cabin from top to bottom, finishing any and all laundry she could find, canning two large pots of stew and then cleaning that mess up again it was finally time for Santana to get ready to go meet Leroy. She had successfully kept herself busy all day, however that didn't mean that she had kept her mind clear. No matter what she done all she could think about was the possibility that Leroy would tell her no. Maybe Rachel would still marry her even if Leroy didn't approve, one could always hope.

The drive to Benihana didn't take near as long as Santana was hoping for. The drive was roughly thirty minutes, but Santana felt like it was closer to thirty seconds. Had she flown here or something, she wondered as she looked around the parking lot looking for Leroy's car. When she spotted him waving she smiled but she was sure it came out more as a grimace.

This is it Santana, it's now or never. Don't wimp out. Don't. Wimp. Out. Santana kept repeating the mantra in her head. Everything would be okay, Leroy loved her like she was a daughter to him. He wouldn't kill her in public right? Why would he kill you? Santana thought to herself. She was only asking for his daughters hand in marriage, they had been in a relationship for three years now. If he was going to kill her he would have done it a long time ago. Stop it. Think positive, be confident and besides if you never ask the answer is always no.

Santana heaved a sigh and stepped down out of her jeep. She managed to pull off a weak smile as she approached Leroy who was waiting for her by the door of the restaurant. Leroy was curious about Santana's demeanor, something was definitely up with the woman, hopefully he would fine out what was going on soon enough.

When eating at a hibachi restaurant, dinner was always filled with entertainment. The evening had been filled with casual chit-chat and wonderful food, but now it was time to get down to why they were really there. Santana fidgeted in her seat, something that Leroy had noticed she had been doing all night. He sighed and laid down his napkin after making sure that his beard stubble was clean of food particles.

"Santana, are you going to tell me what's up? You've been on edge all night." Leroy looked sympathetic. Maybe he knew what she was planning to ask.

"I want to ask Rachel to marry me." Santana blurted and then quickly clamped her hand over her mouth, it wasn't supposed to come out like that.

Leroy wasn't sure what Santana had just said. It had came out as a jumble of words rather than an actual sentence. "I'm sorry, what?"

Oh no. This was the part where he said no. Santana could feel the sheer panic coursing throughout her body, her hands had gone clammy. When did it get so hot in this place. Santana started mumbling to herself about how this was a bad idea and to forget what she had just said. Leroy knew he had to try and calm Santana down before she bolted out of the restaurant. "Santana, honey. Calm down. I just didn't hear what you said."

With shaky hands Santana reached out and grabbed her glass of wine, downing what was left in the glass. It was a good thing she had eaten plenty of food. "I want to ask...Rachel..to marry me." She sat with her back straight, body stiff as she waited for his reply.

Leroy sat with a neutral look on his face. Santana had just asked for Rachel's hand in marriage. It was a glorious day, his baby was finally going to get married, well as long as she said yes to the proposal. Of course he wasn't going to tell Santana this right away, he could make her sweat a little but the poor woman looked like she was going to pass out at any moment. Maybe he really shouldn't drag this out any longer than needed. "You have my full permission. I also really appreciate you asking." Leroy grinned as he watched Santana completely deflate, jeez, was she about to cry?

"So, you're saying I can ask her?" Santana really needed to hear the clarification again just to make sure.

"Yes, you can ask her. I've known for a long time now that she was your forever and I couldn't imagine a better person for her to marry. I know that Hiram would also approve. Now he would be the one that would have required a little more persuasion than a dinner." Santana smiled in relief, she was glad that she now had Leroy's approval and by extension she also had Hiram's. Now all she had to do was ask Rachel and hope that she said yes.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me." Santana stood up and walked around the table so that she could give Leroy a hug.

"I think I might have a small idea about what you're going through. I was the one who asked Hiram to marry me. Bayani proposed this time around."

"Don't I know it." Santana mumbled as she sat back down in her seat. "I remember that dinner all too well. I thought he was going to pass out into his lobster plate when he asked Rachel for permission to propose. Then he dropped your ring when she asked if she could see it." Bayani had went to great lengths to have Leroy a custom engagement ring made, it wasn't quiet as big as a standard wedding band, but it was a beautiful matte black with a diamond band that ran around the center.

"Speaking of rings, do you have Rachel's yet?" He knew that Santana had wonderful taste in jewelry even though she hardly wore any herself.

"It should be here in the next couple of days. I have to go to the city and pick it up. I can show you a picture though." Santana responded as she pulled out her phone and opened up the email with her confirmation number. Leroy chuckled as he looked at the company name on the email.

"You went to Tiffany's." Santana rolled her eyes, she knew someone was going to say it eventually when they seen it. Instead of going for something super extravagant Santana had settled on the Tiffany Grace design, princess cut diamond with the platinum diamond band. Rachel liked jewelry, but nothing super flashy. Santana thought the ring was perfect, hopefully Rachel would too. "I think she will love it." Leroy nodded his approval as he handed the phone back to Santana who couldn't help but to admire the ring once more. It felt like that was all she had been doing since receiving the email.

Santana couldn't help but to finally let her much contained excitement settle in. The ring would be here in a few days, Leroy had said yes and now all Rachel had to do was come home and say yes.

* * *

"Santana, are you even listening to me?" Rachel asked slightly annoyed. She had been speaking to Santana without any response for almost ten minutes now. Whatever the other woman was thinking about had her really deep in her head.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

"I gathered that much. What were you thinking about?" Whatever Rachel had been saying wasn't important now. She wanted to know what was going on in that head of Santana's. Rachel knew that the woman could cook up devious plans in her head and never breathe a word about it to any one.

"Just everything that happened this morning. I know you're not ready to talk about it." Santana spoke quickly as she saw Rachel open her mouth to protest about the impending conversation. "I'm not going to force you, you know I never do. But this isn't going to go away with the snap of your fingers, love. I know you're super worried and scared, even if you won't admit it." Santana gave Rachel a pointed glare. "Now, I know you were saying something about a fan from your press tour, I promise I am listening this time."

Rachel smiled her thanks to Santana. She always knew when to push and when to back off, it was one of her things that Rachel couldn't help but to fall in love with. Rachel began to tell Santana about a lovely little girl she had met that reminded her of Santana. A tiny spit fire who charmed and dazzled everyone that she met including Rachel.

That was something for Santana to really think about, was this Rachel's way of hinting around that she wanted a baby? Santana could see herself married to Rachel with a little girl or boy running around the cabin. Sure the thought terrified her, but didn't becoming a parent terrify everyone at first? Would she make a good mom? She had looked after Beth before when she was a baby, but it's different when it's your own kids. Santana sighed internally, it was a lot to think about and she really didn't need to be stuck in her head again. Rachel might threaten to unleash her fists of fury if she realized that Santana had once again zoned out.


	7. Something To Go On

When Santana pulled up into the pick up lane in front of the airport, something seemed off. It was as if the whole place was buzzing with tension. She looked over at Rachel who was leaning forward in her seat trying to get a better look out of the front windshield. There was nothing to really see except some extra security guards milling about outside of the entrance doors.

"What's going on?" Rachel wondered out loud.

"I have no idea." Santana turned around in her seat looking for Shane and Brandon, the two men from Duncan's security team that had been trailing them.

Rachel squeaked in surprise when Santana's phone chimed signaling that she had a new message. Goodness, the heavy atmosphere was making her very jumpy. Santana reached out to take Rachel's hand as she unlocked her phone and read the message to Rachel.

"It's from Shane. _Don't get out of the jeep, Leroy is with us. Pull back into the traffic slowly and head back to your cabin._" Rachel looked at Santana with wide eyes. Why was her father with Shane and Brandon and how did they make it to the airport before they did? She didn't remember seeing them at all during the drive. They really were stealthy.

_Where are you guys headed? _Santana messaged them back, she assumed they would also be going to her cabin but she really wanted to make sure first.

_Your place, Duncan is there waiting on us to talk. Chief Sylvester is on her way too. _Santana sighed and handed her phone to Rachel in case she got another message. "We're heading home, they're going to meet us there."

"What's going on Santana?" Rachel asked as she buckled her seat belt back up.

Santana shrugged her shoulders as she checked her surroundings and slowly pulled back into the line of traffic. "They didn't say and I didn't ask. I can only suspect it has something to do with Conner though."

Rachel leaned her head against the window. This whole situation with Conner was really starting to wear her out already, she couldn't deal with this if it went on for days. Santana was at a loss as to what to do, she could feel the anxiety radiating off of Rachel. Maybe all of this would be over soon enough, it's possible that's why they all wanted to meet at the cabin anyway. Santana wasn't going to let go of the hope that they had caught Conner or were on their way to catching him. Sighing, she reached over and grabbed Rachel's hand, holding it tightly all the way back to the cabin.

* * *

When Santana and Rachel pulled back up at the cabin, Santana was shocked to see so many people waiting on them. Duncan and his whole crew were now there, Chief Sylvester, Detective Beiste, and Leroy were all standing around their vehicles. Rachel was out of the Jeep running towards Leroy as soon as Santana had the car in park. Santana lingered back a bit letting them have their moment before it was ruined by whatever was going on.

As Santana walked closer to everyone, she was eyeing folders that both Chief Sylvester and Detective Beiste were holding. Those folders probably contained a whole lot of information about Conner and whatever in the hell that man was planning.

"Well this is a sad excuse for a party. I should have prepared appetizers or something." Santana joked as she walked over to Rachel who had her arm wrapped around Leroy's waist.

Rachel just rolled her eyes. When Santana was super uncomfortable she always turned to bad humor or she shut down. In this scenario, Rachel was glad that Santana was using humor, she didn't need her to shut down right now.

"Are we going to stand here all day or are we going to talk about why we are all here?" Sue asked, getting impatient.

"Let's go inside." Santana motioned to the cabin while walking ahead of everyone so that she could unlock the door.

Once inside everyone made their way to the kitchen. It was the largest room in the house with the most seating and as in most cases, the kitchen was the main hang out spot. In order to occupy her mind and not dwell on everything that was going on around her, Santana set out to make coffee and tea for everyone. Hell, she might have to break out the alcohol before long, she would just have to wait and see.

Chief Sylvester was the first to speak. She cleared her throat as she laid out the folder that actually contained a lot of information about this case. Yes, it had turned from an escaped prisoner into a full blown investigation. This was bigger than they had initially anticipated. "I guess, the first thing I will tell you is that Conner Porter was seen getting on a plane this evening. Hence the reason I know you seen security crawling alive when you were at the airport."

Rachel was shocked, this mans picture had to have been posted all over the news all day and he just walks onto an airplane? "How?"

"The Porter men have many more connections than we anticipated when we handled your case Rachel. We think he is going to see his father, who at the moment is in California. The LAPD has been notified and they are going to be running checks on every plane." Sue was very happy with the way the LAPD had responded to her, she just hoped that they were able to catch Conner. "As of right now, we still don't know what they are planning, but we don't think it has much or anything to do with Rachel at this moment. The prison searched his bunk and didn't find anything other than some letters that we believe are coded. They have a coding specialist working on those as we speak."

Santana turned from where she was still working on the coffee and tea. "I just don't get it. Why are they doing this now? It's been three years, Conner has had plenty of time to swallow things just to escape. Also, how was he able to get a ticket to California without anyone noticing?"

Detective Beiste stepped in with his folder. "That's where I come in. I've been following the insurance part of the trial and just recently all the Porter's brothers accounts were officially unfrozen. All of the lawsuits against the insurance company were finally paid out and the company was closed. We also think the doctor who helped him escaped purchased the ticket under his name and then made a fake ID for Conner. He buys the ticket and Conner can now pay him back since his account is unfrozen."

Rachel dropped her head into her hands. Conner could very well still be coming after her again or he could be planning something that had nothing to do with her at all. However, considering her past involvement with the men she was assumed to be on of their top priorities. Duncan and his men were all standing around waiting on their next orders. Now that Conner was headed out of state, Duncan could thin out his group of men a little. He wasn't going to get rid of all them though, he still needed them around just in case something was to happen. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

Santana was confused. Conner had escaped because he had the money to? That just didn't add up right, those decoders at the prison better figure something out soon. "Why didn't their dad just give them money if that was the reason they have waited this long?"

Detective Beiste was the first to answer. "He knew he was being watched. His sons had just been put in prison for attempted murder and insurance fraud. All eyes were on him waiting for his next move."

Scratching the back of her neck Santana poured herself a cup of coffee. "So, do you know yet who the doctor is that helped him escape?"

"Actually we do." Sue began flipped through her folder, that was one of the things that they had came to talk about. "His name is Dr. Ronald Adkins. Apparently he is a long time family friend. He was identified as the last person to enter and leave Conner's room." Leroy who had been quiet the entire time, let out a barely audible gasp. Everyone turned to look at him.

Rachel studied her father, he had this look on his face. She couldn't really read it, but she definitely knew something was up. "What is it dad? Do you know him?"

Rendered speechless, Leroy placed his hand on his chest and began shaking his head yes. He hadn't seen Ronald Adkins in years. He remembers the first time he met Ronald, always so arrogant, thinking he was better than everyone in medical school. He actually was better than everyone, except for one person and that was Hiram. They competed for every top honor that a medical student could receive. They were tied there for a while until the much harder stuff came along and Hiram started to push Ronald down the ladder. But would an old rivalry like that cause this man to help the Porter's with what ever it was they were planning? If it did, well that was just petty. Sure, let's play with peoples minds and lives because I was jealous of someone in medical school.

Rachel looked from Leroy to everyone standing around the kitchen. Placing her hand on his shoulder, she gave him a little shake. "Dad, where did you go right then?"

"Yes, I know Dr. Ronald Adkins. He was Hiram's rival, nemesis, whatever you want to call him, in medical school. They competed for everything and I literally mean everything. I know this is going to sound so pompous but they even tried to compete for me once. There was no competition though, I knew from the moment I met Hiram he was the one, Ronald never stood a chance."

Detective Beiste cleared his throat. "So you think Dr. Adkins helping the Porters is because of this college war with Hiram?"

"I never said that. I was just explaining how I knew him. But it does seem odd doesn't it. The Porter's go after Hiram, he passes away before they can do anything so they go after Rachel. Rachel gets away and they go to prison. People who go after others for revenge usually don't stop until they have it. Dr. Adkins could simply be a pawn in their game to go after the entire family."

"You honestly think that?" Detective Beiste wasn't sure what to make of all this. It really all seemed pointless when you looked it from one perspective. However, Leroy was right about one thing, revenge was a dirty game to play and the game went on until revenge was served.

"I don't know what to think, but what else do we have to go on right now?" Leroy shrugged his shoulders while throwing his hands up in the air.

Santana stood there thinking everything through in her head. "I'm not trying to discredit anything you just said Leroy, but doesn't this all seem so..I don't know...tedious? Their plans for Hiram and Rachel came about as revenge for their mother's death, but coming after you and possibly Rachel again because of a college quarrel over who is the best just seems...well...stupid on their part."

"You have to remember though, some people nowadays are just plain evil. There have been family feuds for centuries and people have killed for many, many stupid reasons." Sue was reading over the notes in her folder, she was listening enough to be able to make comments here and there. However, she was really considering what Leroy had said, was this really going to be what their case was built on? She had to get more information.


	8. Forever Future

When everyone decided that they had chatted about the case enough for the evening, Santana was delighted to get them all moving in the direction of the front door. She appreciated everything that they were doing for her, Rachel and Leroy but there was only so much a person could take before they went bonkers. She needed to not focus on any of this for a minute and focus on her hopefully future wife. Santana had planned out basically every second for the big day. Friday morning she would start off with breakfast in bed for Rachel and then Leroy was coming by to pick up Rachel for a father daughter day. It had been a while since they had had one. Finn had set up a special movie for them at the theater and their last stop would be at the lodge were a lovely spa package was waiting for Rachel. Leroy would meet Rachel afterwards with a dress that Santana had to go pick up in St. Lawrence at a little boutique. Rachel had a full day of meetings Wednesday and Santana was glad that she wouldn't have to answer questions as to why Rachel couldn't go with her.

Santana wondered where Rachel was, one minute she was still outside with her and the next she was gone. She must have went inside, Santana thought to herself. She turned around to go and join Rachel when she saw the woman coming out of the barn.

"Whatcha doin'? Santana asked as Rachel got closer and stepped up onto the porch.

"Nothing. I thought you had went back in the house." Santana furrowed her brows. When had she said she was going back in the house?

"No...I was just watching everyone leave. Where's your dad headed? I thought he was hanging around here for a while?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "He wanted to give us some alone time. I think he can tell you were getting wound up."

Santana scoffed as she sat down on the top step. "How can I not get wound up during all of this? Those men have been completely out of our lives for three years, until now." Santana hugged her knees to her chest as she looked out over her property. It didn't matter what else was going on in their lives, at least this only ever changed with the seasons and that was something beautiful that was easily acceptable.

Rachel sighed as she sat down next to Santana. "They will be out of our lives again soon enough. I have faith that the LAPD is going to catch him coming off that plane."

"Hopefully. I just can't stop asking why? I know that right now they are looking into the whole feud between Hiram and Ronald, but I just don't get it. Does he really dislike Leroy so much that he is helping the Porter's go after him?" Santana just couldn't seem to wrap her mind around any of this.

Rachel leaned her head on Santana's shoulder. She wished she had all of the answers, but she didn't and she couldn't get them at least not at the moment. "Maybe we will get some answers later. But for now...I think we should go in the cabin and fix some dinner. Plus I know a certain little girl who needs to be brought outside for a while so she can learn the ways of the land." Rachel smiled as she waved her arm outwards motioning to all of the property.

* * *

"I'm so excited and I just can't hide it..." Santana sang as she and Rachel danced around the kitchen. They were in the middle of making dinner when the song had came on the radio and with everything going on, it was the perfect release. Dahlia and Dax sat with their heads titled looking at the women, yeah their owners where just a little bit loopy, but they loved them anyway.

"Hey...hey..." Rachel bent over resting her hands on her knees. When had dancing became this hard? She worked out almost every morning, but man was she winded. Santana stopped dancing and made her way back over to the stove to stir the pasta sauce that was simmering away. "Did Duncan say if any of his men were coming around tonight or in the morning?"

"No, I don't think so. I know he was sending some of them home but he was keeping two or three to still keep an eye on the property. Why?" Santana asked as she laid the spoon down on the cradle resting on the stove.

"Just wanted to make sure that we weren't going to be interrupted tonight or in the morning like we were this morning." Rachel smirked as she walked over to Santana and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Oh yeah? What are we going to be doing?" Santana asked as she moved closer to Rachel, pressing her body as close as she could. She loved this super flirty side to Rachel that nobody really knew she had.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "We might be doing a little kissing." Rachel pressed her lips against Santana's collar bone. "A little touching." She began to run her hands up and down Santana's back, bringing them to rest on her backside with a firm squeeze. "Just some stuff like that."

Santana was having a hard time controlling herself at the moment. With Rachel kissing and touching her like that she was close to turning off the stove and just running upstairs. "I like stuff like that." Santana went in for a kiss, sliding her lips along Rachel's.

Before they could get carried away, Rachel remembered that oh yeah, they were cooking dinner and if they didn't pay attention it was going to burn. Pulling away from Santana, Rachel stepped around her to back over to the stove. Santana remained standing by the kitchen island, appreciating the view she was getting as Rachel bent over to grab the garlic bread out of the over.

"I can sense you staring at me you know." Rachel spoke as she stood back up with the pan in her hands.

"Is me staring at your glorious ass a problem?" Santana smirked.

"Nope. As long as my glorious ass is the only one you ever stare at."

Santana threw her head back and laughed. She loved jealous Rachel, it was both endearing and hot at the same time if that was even possible. "I only have eyes for your ass." Santana held up three fingers, giving Rachel the boy scout solute.

"Damn right you do." Rachel grinned as she felt Santana come up behind her, wrapping her in a hug.

"I think dinner is done." Santana peaked over Rachel's shoulder looking at the pasta sauce.

"Good, because I am starving." Rachel clapped her hands together as she went to set the table and grab some wine. Dahlia and Dax just continued to stare at their owners, mentally shaking their heads. One minute they were dancing...the next they were all over each other and now they were eating dinner. Humans were weird.

* * *

Later that evening Santana dropped Dahlia off in her pen and locked the front door before heading off to bed. She smiled when she came up the stairs and saw Rachel reading in bed. Santana climbed onto the bed and laid down, draping an her right arm over Rachel's legs and resting her head Rachel's thigh. Rachel began running her hand through Santana's hair, trying to decide if she should bring up something that she had had on her mind for a little while now.

Santana must have been in Rachel's head because before Rachel could bring up the topic, Santana had beat her to it. "Rachel...do you ever think about having babies? Like before you met that little girl on your press tour did you ever think about having a baby?" If Santana could get Rachel to talk about this..maybe it would lessen her worry about proposing.

Rachel studied the top of Santana's head, pausing her hand in Santana's hair momentarily. "Do you mean, having babies in general or having babies with you?" Rachel asked quietly as she closed her book and laid it down on the night stand.

Santana shrugged her shoulder that wasn't pressed into the bed. "Both, I guess?" She was pulling at a loose thread on the top quilt. She knew this conversation was completely out of the blue, there wasn't even an introduction. No segue. Nothing. Just, babies? Yes or No.

"Well." Rachel scooted down under the covers so that she was laying directly in front of Santana. "Before I met you, I thought about what kind of mother I would be. I think everyone has those thoughts at one point in time before you decide if you ever want to have babies or not. Now with you...I have thought about us having a baby before. Have you ever thought about it?"

"Thought about having a baby with you?" Santana asked as she readjusted her arm so that she could keep pulling at the thread on the top quilt. By the time this conversation was over they might not even have a quilt anymore. Rachel just nodded and waited for an answer. "I have. Especially here lately after everything going on with Beth and Davis and then the stories about that little girl you met. But I don't think I am ready for one just yet, it's okay to talk about it though right? I mean, am I completely jumping the gun bringing all of this up?" Santana was starting to panic, she had just opened a huge can of worms.

"Hey, calm down. I think it's perfectly okay to talk about this. Also I am with you about not being ready yet. But I do think about our future sometimes. I think you will be a great mother." Rachel turned her head to look at Santana's face. She had her eyes closed wearing a small smile on her lips. "Your my forever Santana, I want it all with you."

"Do you really mean that?" Santana asked as she finally stopped pulling at the loose thread and brought her hand up to rest on Rachel's cheek.

"I've never meant anything more in my life." Rachel smiled as she leaned forward to kiss Santana on the lips.

"I love you so much. I can't wait to spend my forever with you." Santana returned the kiss as she shifted around trying to get under the covers with Rachel. "You will be a great mom too you know." She was so happy that she had one of the keys to her forever hidden in her closet. It's funny how talking about babies helped alleviate the nervousness that Santana was feeling over proposing. You would think that would make her panic more, however it done the exact opposite. If Rachel had thought about their future then there was no way she would say no to Santana.

Sure, maybe she had went a bit over board skipping the marriage talk and going straight to baby talk, but it was kind of inevitable. Rachel had made it seem like babies were on the brain and that was perfectly fine. Santana could talk about babies, she just had, hadn't she? But to her she really wanted to enjoy all the new feelings that marriage brought about first, then they could talk more about babies. Either way, they were going to get married and then in the future they were going to have babies. Santana couldn't wait. At the moment, she could wait because she had Rachel partially naked now, under the covers with her and she was never one to pass up an opportunity such as this.

Rachel thought about the ring she had hidden in the barn. If Santana was asking about babies then didn't that mean she should be ready for marriage too? Hopefully that was the case. Rachel couldn't wait to tell her father about the ring that she had hidden in preparation of proposing to Santana. She wasn't sure when she was going to do it, but it was definitely going to be soon. With the way that Santana was kissing her at the moment, hell Rachel might propose tomorrow.


	9. Just The Beginning

The next morning Santana awoke to something licking her face. Rachel? No..what the hell are you thinking? That's definitely not Rachel. Santana groaned and turned over, pulling the covers over top of her head. She sighed when she felt a small weight settle onto her back. Whatever in the hell it was had at least four pa-..oh..it was Dahlia. But how in the hell had Dahlia made it all the way up the stairs by herself? In Santana's sleep clouded mind she couldn't find the reasoning to conclude that Rachel, whom was sitting on the bed giggling had been the one to bring Dahlia along for a wake up call.

There were only two ways of getting out of this situation in Santana's mind. She could turn back over really fast, running the chance of propelling Dahlia either onto the bed or into the floor. No, that won't work. Santana loved her fur babies, no matter how annoying she found this little fluff ball still standing on her back to be. She could also turn back over really slowly or well, she could ask the still giggling woman to remove the animal. However, that meant that Rachel would know she was definitely awake. Huffing, Santana decided she might as well get up.

"Please remove the four legged fluff ball from my back." Santana mumbled into her pillow.

"Aww, but she just wants to tell her Momma good morning." Rachel cooed as she pet Dahlia on the head but made no move to remove her.

"If she starts eating my hair, you can clean up the mess that will cause." Well Rachel didn't want to have to deal with that, so she swiftly moved Dahlia off Santana's back and set the puppy down in her lap.

"Where's Dax?" Santana asked as she turned onto her back, holding the blanket in place. She didn't want to expose herself to the young puppy's eyes. She was much too young to be seeing stuff like that.

Rachel pointed over to Dax's bed that had remained upstairs. "I think he missed his stuffed penguin. We forgot to put it downstairs and he hasn't been able to get up here and get it with the gate closed."

Santana internally groaned. She felt bad that she had forgot to put Dax's penguin downstairs, but on the other hand Dax hadn't played with it since Dahlia came home. He hadn't even whined for it. Dahlia's novelty must be wearing off if he wanted his penguin back. "Dax, come. Bring me your baby." Santana patted the bed. She smiled as Dax grabbed his penguin and hopped up onto the bed. She couldn't help but grin when she saw how careful he was carrying it, you would think the thing was precious glass. "It's funny how gentle he is with this thing." Santana picked up the penguin, grimacing slightly when she noticed the drool on it. "But he ends up tearing his frisbees to shreds. I would have thought they would be his babies."

Noticing the penguin in Santana's hands, Dahlia began to struggle trying to get out of Rachel's lap so she could investigate. There was a new toy that she hadn't seen or played with yet! She needed to check it out, it could be a threat. Rachel watched nervously as Dahlia fell forward trying to walk over the little quilt mountains. "He..won't attack her anything will he?"

Santana shook her head, tossing the penguin closer to Dahlia. Just in case though she wrapped her arm around Dax ready to pull him back. "She's just sniffing it out Dax." She spoke as she ran her hand up and down his side. Dax watched Dahlia warily, this tiny blonde was going towards his baby. That was his baby! He couldn't really understand what his master was saying, but the fact that she had her arm around him and was rubbing his side made it a bit easier to trust that Dahlia wasn't going to hurt his baby. When Dahlia got close enough she began to sniff around the penguins head. It took five seconds for Dahlia to realize she really didn't like this black and white thing that she was sniffing. She must attack! Barking, trying to assert her dominance, Dahlia laid down on her front paws sticking her tiny tail in the air. This foreign object must die! Barking once, twice, three times Dahlia pounced onto the penguin, successfully sending herself rolling onto Santana's hand. Dax internally rolled his eyes, this little blonde had a lot to learn.

* * *

Later in the evening Santana and Rachel were hanging out together on the front porch. Santana had been working around the property all day, tending to her crops and chickens, and doing any little maintenance job she could find. Rachel had had a minor scare when Santana went into the barn to work on one of the ATV's. Rachel had never been more thankful that she had hid the ring in one of the back horse stalls.

"Are you driving into town in the morning or is Quinn coming to pick you up?" Santana asked as she pulled Rachel into her side, pushing the swing they were sitting on with her foot.

"I'm driving. My first meeting isn't until ten." Rachel laid her head down onto Santana's shoulder. This was easily one of her favorite past times. Swinging with Santana on the front porch simply enjoying the nature around them. Rachel chuckled a little to herself. She could easily see herself doing this very thing years down the road with Santana.

"What are you laughing at?" Santana pulled her head back to look down at Rachel.

"I was just imaging us doing this when we're old."

"Pffftt. I don't plan on getting old. I'm sure there is a fountain of youth somewhere on this mountain and I am going to find it." Santana responded casually like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "If you find this fountain of youth, you have to share. I don't want to grow old without you."

Santana kissed Rachel on the forehead. "Don't worry, what's mine is yours and what's yours is ours."

The women watched Dax bounce around the yard, running around and bringing his frisbee to them when he wanted it thrown. After the incident this morning with Dahlia and the penguin, when the laughter had settled, Rachel and Santana had realized that Dax hid his penguin from Dahlia. Dahlia wasn't the least bit upset, she actually looked thankful.

"I'm kind of dreading tomorrow." Rachel mumbled like they had never switched topics.

"Why? I know meetings are boring and you'll be busy all day, but is there anything more specific that's bringing about this dread?" Wow, Santana that was a super long way of simply asking why.

"Well the first meeting is with Puck and some intern writers that he feels holds a lot of promise. If they can prove themselves, he wants to hire one to write with me. So it's kind of like a large interview and I really don't want to be someone who crushes their dreams. I know what it feels like to have someone tell you that you're good, but not good enough to work with them." Rachel pouted, she had never been involved with such a huge decision as this one. Sure she had plenty of say when it came to her songs and music career, that was one thing that really made PF Productions unique. This was the first time that she would be working directly with a writer chosen for her and it was just a bit overwhelming.

"If Puck thinks they have promise, then they must all be good on some level. But, either way it's not just about their writing ability. They have to be able to write and compose songs that fit your voice. They might be a better fit with a different artist that works there. Just because you don't pick them doesn't mean someone else won't. The music industry is a tough business, hell just being an intern could open countless doors for them. I know that no matter what I say, you're still going to feel bad but I don't think Puck would just get rid of them after picking one for you. He's not the type of guy to just throw them back to the wolves, he will help in them whatever ways he can." Santana didn't know if anything she had just said would make Rachel feel better about the decision, but she hoped it did. She wasn't really well versed in situations such as this one, she knew a bit about the business, but she wasn't nearly as involved as Rachel was.

Rachel sighed, she knew Santana was right. Sometimes when a door closed, a window of opportunity opened up somewhere else. "I also have a fitting for the city premiere next week."

"Well that doesn't sound so bad. You normally love fittings. I swear Kurt thinks your his doll to dress up." Santana rolled her eyes.

Rachel giggled and lightly smacked Santana on the arm. "Don't be mean. He's been my stylist for years now, heck he was even styling me when he had no idea why you were buying clothes that day in Shuebury's."

Santana's face fell a bit. Obviously talking about the Porter's wasn't a foreign topic, especially with everything going on at the moment. But, it still made Santana's stomach flutter in the bad way whenever that part of Rachel's past was mentioned. There were so many what if's attached to that time in their life and there was nothing they could do about it. Santana tried not to dwell on it, because you would waste your life thinking about what if's, she was just happy that Rachel was here with her and that she was safe.

Noticing the change in expression on Santana's face, Rachel scooted impossibly closer to her on the swing. She knew what Santana was thinking about. The woman always felt like she should have or could have done more than she did for Rachel. "Stop thinking about it." Rachel whispered as she placed her forehead on Santana's shoulder. "Even with Conner on the run at the moment, we're still okay. We're going to be okay."

"I know, I believe you." Santana responded as she placed a kiss on the top of Rachel's head.

The two women sat in silence for a few moments before it was broken by Dax running onto the porch barking. Santana could hear something coming up the road towards the cabin, which automatically put her on the defense. It could just be Duncan or it could be someone who had broken in through the gate after taking Duncan out. Really Santana? Pull yourself together. Never the less she was relieved when she seen the black golf cart come into view. Yeah, Duncan had his own golf cart, it was more cost efficient than running his blazer up to the cabin every time he had to come up there. He could just as easily call, but to be fair Santana wasn't the best at keeping up with her phone and when Rachel was home, she didn't keep up with hers that well either. They were both in the kitchen laying on the island at the moment.

"I've tried calling you guys for twenty minutes now." Point. Proven. Duncan huffed as he climbed out of the golf cart. It was kind of funny, he was such a big muscular guy so climbing out of a standard sized golf cart wasn't a graceful situation for him.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked as she stood up and walked to the edge of the porch. At least Rachel was paying attention. Santana was too busy imagining Duncan trying to climb out of tiny spaces.

"The LAPD captured Conner a few hours ago. I would have came sooner, but I just got the call myself. He got away at the airport, but they tracked him down." Duncan was smiling now. The bastard had been caught; he was one less thing to worry about.

That broke Santana's trance just as she was thinking about how bad she felt for Duncan's mother. She not only had Duncan, but she had four other kids...all similar in size. "Huh?"

"Conner has been captured by the LAPD."

"Oh wow. I'm relieved he has been caught, but I honestly don't know how else to feel. What happens now?" Santana glanced over at Rachel who was quiet, she was probably thinking the same thing as Santana.

"Well, now we wait for an indictment for him to be sent back to New York. They are questioning him there and hopefully we will have some information about his escape soon." Duncan rubbed his hand together, he had been so happy to deliver this news. He just hoped they could get the indictment before the weekend, he would feel even better when Conner was back in prison here. Rachel was so relieved, but now they had the task of figuring out what was going on.

This wasn't the end, this was a whole new beginning.

* * *

**As you can tell, Conner being captured is not the end. Like I said before there is a chance this story could go on longer than the first one. This crazy train has just barely pulled out of the station at the moment.**

**I want to thank everyone for all the views, reviews, follows and favorites. **


	10. Silly Little Memories

Duncan stood there looking back and forth between the two women. "I better get back to the gate. I just wanted to let you two know about Duncan. I think Chief Sylvester should be landing in California soon. She said she would call when her plane landed."

Rachel looked up at Duncan perplexed. "Chief Sylvester went out there?"

Duncan shrugged his shoulders. "I guess she just wanted to make sure for herself that he was actually in custody or behind bars again. Like I said, when I know more you two will know more."

"Thanks for letting us know." Santana gave a small wave as Duncan got back into the golf cart and headed back down to his post. Stepping off the porch Santana walked to the edge of the grass watching Duncan drive away before returning to Rachel who was still standing on the porch. "Rachel?" Santana asked cautiously as she approached.

Rachel looked at her but didn't say anything, it was like she was looking through Santana. There were so many things that could be running through Rachel's mind and Santana had no idea where to start. She placed her hands on Rachel's cheeks ignoring the flinch that she received. At least her touch had pulled Rachel out of her head. Now, that was better, Rachel's eyes were actually focusing now. "What are you thinking?" Santana asked.

"This is just the beginning. What if he wanted to get caught? What if it is all part of some messed up plan?" Rachel started to ramble and shake her head. Santana held firm but not hard enough to hurt Rachel.

"We will figure it out. We're not alone in this, Sue is on her way to LA right now. I am sure Detective Beiste is either with her or waiting for them to get back here. Okay?"

Rachel nodded her head which was still being held by Santana. She tilted her head forward brushing her lips against Santana's. She needed that connective moment. When Santana spoke patiently about things, no matter what it was, Rachel couldn't help the overwhelming feeling of love that bloomed in her chest. Life was hard, but with Santana by her side, it was just a little bit easier.

"Good, now let's go inside and find some dinner. We both have long days tomorrow." Santana took Rachel's hand and led her into the cabin, stopping to pick Dahlia up out of her outside play pen. Dax had cut them both off running into the cabin as soon as the door was open.

"What do you mean you have a long day tomorrow?" Rachel raised a questioning eyebrow at Santana. She knew Santana had to go to St. Lawrence but she wasn't aware of why she was going. At least she didn't think she was...had she blacked out during a conversation or something? Normally she was a pretty good listener.

Santana shrugged her shoulders as she walked into the kitchen, Rachel following closely behind. "I have to go pick up some canvas rolls and more paint. Also, it's time to start moving some of these guys outside to the field." Santana stretched across the sink checking on her tomato plants. "I've got to get my potatoes out too or we won't have any this fall."

Oh, Rachel was never really good at all the farming stuff that Santana liked to do. But one thing she did know for sure was that she loved to eat all the fresh fruits and vegetables that Santana grew. Things like this really made Rachel proud. Santana was dedicated to keeping their food as healthy as possible, sure they both had luxury item lists now that they only bought because it was there and they could afford it. Rachel remembers when she made her list, Santana had told her that in order to make her list she must go one month without three favorite foods from each taste. No salty, sweet, savory, sour, or bitter. Bitter obviously was the easiest to deal with, however the others weren't. She had struggled the first week, especially when she caught Santana hiding in her studio eating a mango mochi ice cream. That had been an interestingly sad yet hilarious moment.

_Santana looked around the kitchen. This was her chance, Rachel, who had been on the war path all week without any of her favorite foods, was in the shower. Santana was being as supportive as she could be, she had already been through this..initiation? Trial? Test run? for creating her luxury items list. Hell, she was the one who had created the thing, except she had went much longer just to make sure she could handle it. Plus, she knew how to make good flavorful food with very little, actually having to eat things that didn't appeal to your taste buds would never be an issue. Rachel didn't need to know that though, she just needed to be able to sort out what she wanted on her luxury list. Was this mean? Possibly. But Rachel had agreed to it none the less because she wanted a luxury list like Santana's._

_Anyway, none of that was the point right now. Right now, Santana was on a mission to get one of her mochi ice creams that she had only just bought on the day that Rachel wanted to start this. She had been craving them for weeks and when Shuebury's finally got some in, she jumped at the chance to buy a box. But now they were just sitting in the ice box waiting to be eaten and Santana was finally going to give in and get one. Every time she had tried to sneak one before, Rachel always seemed to pop out of nowhere like a freaking jack in the box. She had at least ten minutes to hide (just in case) and savor the delicious mango smoothness._

_Santana cradled the mochi in her hands as she peaked around the corner to make sure that she could still hear the shower running. When she could indeed hear the water running, she skipped across the hallway and into her studio, plopping down on the couch and relishing in the first bite of her mochi. Oh yes, it was as delicious as she remembered it to be. Santana must have gotten lost in the greatness that was the mochi when the door to the studio busted open, Rachel standing there wrapped in her towel, hair dripping down her shoulders. _

_In a moment of panic Santana stuffed the remaining mochi in her mouth, chewing as fast as possible. Her eyes wide as she waited for Rachel to say or do something. _

_"What are you doing? I yelled for you but you didn't answer." Rachel asked, placing her hands on her hips. Something was going on._

_"Noffin." Santana responded as innocently as possible. It was hard when your mouth was full of ice cream and oh hell, the brain freeze was setting in._

_"What are you eating?" Rachel stepped inside the studio, walking towards Santana slowly. To Santana it looked like Rachel was stalking some kind of prey._

_"Nothing." Santana tried to smile, it felt like someone was jabbing at her head with an ice pick. Why did she shove that whole thing in her mouth._

_"What's this?" Rachel bent over and picked up the mochi wrapper._

_"Uh..that's...uh...I don't know what that is."_

_"Santana! You were eating mochi ice cream. Ah and it was a mango one too." Rachel's shoulders slumped. This was not something to possibly start crying about. She could do this, it was only a month and she was already one week in._

_"I'm sorry." Santana grimaced as she was still trying to stop the brain freeze. "I won't do it again. I swear."_

_Rachel dropped the wrapper as she started laughing, this was all so ridiculous. However, she had a brilliant idea. "I think the brain freeze you are so obviously suffering from is enough punishment."_

_"It really is." Santana gritted her teeth. Would this ever go away?!_

_"Here, let me help." Rachel pushed Santana back into the couch as she climbed onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her neck. Connecting their lips, Rachel gave Santana a deep kiss. What was going on again? Santana was only aware of the fact that she now had a naked Rachel in her lap. As Santana ran her hands up Rachel's thighs, Rachel broke the kiss and stood up walking out of the studio. She licked her lips having gotten her fix of some sweetness from the kiss. Santana sat there in a daze before she realized what had just happened. Rachel had tricked her._

_"Rachel that was cheating!" Santana shouted as she ran out of the studio chasing after a cackling Rachel._

Rachel smiled as she watched Santana fuss over her plants. "What else are you planting this summer?"

"The usual, peppers, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce. We should go out to the tree house. The hickory chickens and ramps will be out of season soon." Rachel scrunched up her nose at the mention of ramps. Those things stunk so bad to her. They tasted like a mixture of powerful onions and garlic, Santana wouldn't cook them in the cabin at all. They were an outside thing. "In a month or so, we can go out to the berry bushes and pick the early season berries." Santana continued to ramble on about all the wild plants that would be ready soon, she loved to forage.

These were the evenings that Rachel really enjoyed. She could listen to Santana talk about this stuff for hours upon hours and never get bored. Rachel felt like every time Santana opened her mouth she learned something new either about Santana or something that she loved doing. Three years and they were still learning about each other.

"So what would you like for dinner?" Santana asked as she opened the ice box to see what all they had in there. She might have to go down to the cellar or out to the ice house to look for something.

"What ever you want." Rachel said as she slid off the stool that she was sitting on.

"Hmm, what about...turkey lettuce wraps? Does that sound good?" Rachel nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around Santana's waist.

"You kind of have to let me go babe so I can go downstairs and get the rest of the stuff." Santana chuckled as Rachel only hugged her tighter. Santana sighed happily as she placed her hands on the top of Rachel's, this feeling of content and happiness would never get old.


	11. Interns and The Dress

When Rachel walked into PF Productions she was greeted by Quinn who was there at the front desk waiting for her. Rachel smiled in greeting as she approached.

"Good morning." Quinn said as she stapled papers together and placed them into a folder.

Rachel responded in kind as she placed her bag on the large oak wood counter. She pushed herself up onto her tip toes in order to try and see what Quinn was doing. "What's all that?" She asked as she nodded to the papers in Quinn's hands.

"These are the files of the interns that you will meeting this morning." Quinn waved the folders around like they were some kind of trophy.

"Can I see?" Rachel asked excited as she made a grab for one of the folders.

"Nope. Puck wants you all to meet face to face first. No sneaking about trying see any of their work before hand."

"But, I know they all know who I am and they know my work, why can't I know theirs?" Rachel gave Quinn her best pout and puppy dog eyes.

"That look only works on Satan...not me." Quinn shrugged her shoulders as she stepped out from behind the counter and made her way down the hall. Rachel followed closely behind, mumbling to herself about if Quinn would just give in a little the pout would work on her too. Maybe she should get some pointers from Beth, that girl always had a way to somehow get something she really wanted.

* * *

When Rachel entered the conference room, Puck was already sitting at the round table with three other very young looking men. Were these kids fresh out of high school or something? To be fair it was just an internship, so they very well could be fresh out of high school, but as long as they could write, what did it matter their age? Rachel trusted Puck and if he said they were good then they were good. Now she just had to help pick the best one.

Puck looked up from the conversation he was having with the interns when he noticed Rachel and Quinn sit down. "Good morning ladies. Are we ready to jump right in?"

Rachel looked to Quinn who nodded. "How is this all going to work?" Rachel asked as she raised her eye-brow at Puck.

"Well, you already know that you will be helping to pick the best guy that can write and compose to best fit your voice." Rachel nodded her head. "Who ever doesn't make the cut with you, will be paired with another artist here. Now lets get introductions out of the way. You all know who I am. That's Quinn, my business partner, wife and genuine better half. Don't piss her off her wrath is worse than mine. You all know Rachel obviously one of you will be working with her and last..well guys why don't you just introduce yourselves."

Rachel watched as the first guy stood up. He had long dread locks and looked a little out of his element wearing a casual dress shirt and jeans. "I'm Joe Hart. I am twenty-six years old and I go to McNally Smith College of Music. I will be graduating soon with a Master's in Music Composition with a Minor in Production. I can write for all genre's in my opinion at least." He leaned across the table to shake Rachel's hand. Puck just sat there beaming, Rachel could tell that of right now, this guy was his favorite.

"It's very nice to meet you." Rachel liked this guy, he was very soft spoken and the fact that he was flexible with genre's was a plus. He could go from writing a sharp ballad to something more modern and pop if he wanted.

The next guy to stand up looked very...polished, as if this meeting was some super high up business meeting. You never saw anyone dressed to the nines in a suit like that around here. "My name is Brock Ramon and it is my pleasure to meet you Ms. Berry." When Rachel stuck her hand out to shake his, she was surprised when he grabbed it and kissed the back of her hand instead. So this one was going for the charm his way in act. "I am twenty-one years young." He spoke while adding a wink. "And, I attend Tisch where I am working on my Bachelor's in Music Composition. My specialty is typically classical but Mr. Puckerman has already helped transform some of my demo's into more modern stuff that will fit your voice wonderfully." Puck rolled his eyes, this guy could write that was for sure but he needed to tone it down a bit.

Before Brock or Rachel could say anything else, the last guy sitting at the table began to yawn. Rachel quirked an eye-brow at him. "Are you bored Mr...?"

The guy jumped at being called out and scrambled to collect himself. "McNeal. Jasper McNeal and no, I am not bored just jet lagged. I apologize, I was visiting my uncle in California and I didn't get in until about 9:30 this morning. I drove straight here. I had to delay my flight because some loon had the security all up in arms."

"Okay." Puck interrupted. "We don't want to hear about your troubles, just introduce yourself." Rachel looked back and forth between Quinn and Puck. Something just seemed off with this guy. Rachel wouldn't write him off just yet, but she would definitely be wary of him. Quinn looked as if she was thinking the same thing. She had been one of the people to look over his file, if something had been wrong she would have caught it. Maybe just to give herself peace of mind, she wouldn't leave this guy alone with Rachel. She was definitely going to have to talk to Puck after this meeting while Rachel was with Kurt for her fitting.

Jasper stood up and cleared his throat. "I just want to apologize again. My name is Jasper McNeal, I am twenty three years old and I am a law student at Yale." Rachel was confused, how had a Yale law student gotten an internship writing, composing and producing music. "I know it's odd for me to be doing that and this. But I take music courses through Berklee College of Music on the side. I do the law thing to keep my uncle off my back." Puck cleared his throat signaling for Jasper to get on with it. "I'm still learning about composition but what I have done so far falls into I guess techno pop or indie stuff?" Jasper looked to Puck for approval who nodded his head. Jasper sighed like he was relieved to have gotten through all of that and sat back down in his chair.

Puck stood up and walked over to Quinn who had a stack of papers waiting to be passed around. "Now these are the lyrics to some sample work the guys have done. Rachel I want you to read over them and pick one, they're not labeled so you don't know who wrote what. The chosen one gets to collab first and then we will go from there." Puck grinned, he liked some good healthy competition and that was one of the first things these guys were going to learn about when it came to the music business.

* * *

Santana waited until she knew for sure that Rachel's meeting would be in full swing before she headed to St. Lawrence. She was giddy with excitement to pick up this dress, it had screamed _Rachel_ as soon as Santana had seen it. After picking up the dress, she really had to go pick up some canvas that she had ordered, there was only enough at the cabin for one more frame and that was a bad thing. Santana normally never let her stock get that low, but with all the planning going on for the proposal it had slipped her mind.

The drive to St. Lawrence was quiet. Santana had thought about bringing the dogs along to stop at the dog park on the way home, but there was no way she was going to leave her dogs in the car or on the street while she was in the dress store. Sugar Motta's was a high end dress boutique. Santana had almost felt guilty for coming here instead of going to Kurt for a dress. However, her guilt subsided when she found out that Sugar carried a line of dresses designed by Kurt. Santana had been lucky that the dress she fell in love with was in Rachel's size, considering Kurt only did various designs. No two dresses would ever have the same pattern.

Pulling up in front of the store, Santana did a brief scan of the parking area like she always did. Thankfully there were no people to alert anyone that she was out and about. She would be fine as long as she avoided larger groups of people. St. Lawrence wasn't a small city by any means, but it was smaller than most and sometimes very easy to hide in. One of the very reasons Conner was able to hide so easily if he even came this way. Santana hoped to stay hidden today, she didn't need a picture of Rachel's dress plastered on some random magazine. That could possibly ruin all of her plans.

Hopping down out of her Jeep, Santana straitened her shirt and prepared to deal with the one and only Sugar Motta. The woman was a little...abrasive for lack of a better word. Sometimes she could really get under Santana's skin but, she provided good business and she always done her best to please every customer.

_I hope this is quick_, Santana mumbled to herself as she approached the dress shop door.

* * *

Rachel breathed a sigh of relief when she exited the meeting room and made her way to PF Productions cafeteria for some lunch. It would seem odd to most people that a production company would have one, but when Noah Puckerman done anything, food would eventually be involved in some way. Rachel was just glad that they had good food instead of bland nothingness that was the equivalent of hospital food.

Stepping off the elevator, Rachel made her way to the cold bar to grab a salad and a water. She was glad for a moment of peace before she stepped into the madhouse that she was sure Kurt had going on at the moment. The meeting with the interns had turned out better than expected, she had chosen Joe's song winning him the right to collaborate first. He had some good stuff and he was very open to any and all suggestions she could make based on what her voice could handle. Yeah, she could hit some of those high notes, a hidden talent that not a lot of people knew about. You have to be careful with things like that, too many high notes in a career and you could seriously damage your vocal chords. Rachel wasn't willing to run that risk.

While Rachel and Joe had worked on their collab with Puck, the other two interns had left to work with Sam on putting their lyrics to music and doing rewrites. She would have plenty of time to collab with them considering the internship was for two months. In the end everyone would get a fair shot at working with Rachel so that everything was done fairly.

Glancing at the clock, Rachel realized that she had about ten minutes before she had to go meet Kurt. This lunch break just wasn't long enough. Hopefully Kurt already had all of her outfits picked out, making this fitting run a lot smoother. Knowing him though...he could change his mind very easily. It was definitely going to be a long afternoon.


	12. End On A Happy Note

Santana walked out of Sugar Motta's shaking her head. She was trying to clear the fog that had set in while dealing with that woman. Nearly everything she said came out in some form of a direct insult or an under handed comment. Why in the hell had it taken nearly an hour to pick up one dress that was already perfectly sized? Santana didn't know but she needed some coffee or maybe some alcohol, either one would do at this point.

She placed the dress on a clothes hanger hook in the back of the Jeep before climbing in herself. Everything was slowly coming together, hopefully everything would go off without a hitch on Friday. Now that she had the dress she still had a few more errands to run. The art store was a few blocks away and after leaving there she had to take the dress to Leroy who was going to take it to the lodge when he went to drop Bayani off at work early Friday morning. Santana checked her phone to see if she had any missed calls or messages from Rachel. She only found a text telling her that Rachel was about to head into her fitting and that she loved her. Santana smiled and messaged her back before starting her Jeep and turning on the air. A hot car with faux leather seats was a killer combination on a persons legs.

Glancing at the clock, Santana realized it was already going on noon, maybe some lunch was in order before she picked up her canvas. Plus she had a lot of work to do once she got back to the cabin. Besides the fact that growing your own food was healthy, Santana really just couldn't deny her inner child when it came to playing in the dirt. No one really needed to know that though.

_Let's get moving before any paparazzi shows up_, Santana mumbled to herself. Putting her Jeep into reverse, Santana headed off in search for some food.

* * *

Rachel slumped down onto the bench and began taking off the high heels that Kurt had had her walking around in for the past thirty minutes. They were really starting to kill her feet.

"These are a no Kurt. I think my toes are going to fall off." Rachel pouted as she rubbed the sides of her feet.

"Beauty is pain." Kurt replied as he stepped over to pick up the shoes and hand Rachel a new pair for the next outfit that was going to be trying on.

"That saying is...I don't know what it is. But I don't like it and I am not wearing shoes that are going to attack my feet the whole night. I want to be able to smile at this premiere, not grimace when asked who's shoes I am wearing." Rachel ignored the shoes and stood up, following closely behind Kurt.

Kurt turned around looking scandalized. Rachel almost ran smack dab into his face. "You will not grimace when asked about my shoes!"

"Oh, I will. I love you and I love your clothes and shoes, but I can tell that you didn't make those." Rachel pointed to the offenders in Kurt's hands. "You may have drew up the plans, but I know that you didn't construct these shoes." Rachel reached out and grabbed one of the shoes that she had just taken off. They were a three inch heel sandal and the straps just seemed to fall in all the wrong places.

Kurt dropped his head as if he was ashamed. "You're right, I didn't make these. They were a product sample from a production company I was trying to work with." He really wasn't a sell out, so don't get any ideas about calling him one. He just wanted to bring newer designs to a larger market. Dressing famous people was a wonderful job, it was everything he had ever dreamed of doing, but everyone deserves to look nice and he personally knew the struggles of being a high school student low on cash and wanting to look your best.

Rachel sighed like her heart was aching for Kurt. "I know you want to expand your business, but that company sucks. I know there are better ones out there for you to work with that will actually do your designs justice. Now, let's go look at the new rack of dresses that Addy brought in. I really want to try on that black one." Rachel couldn't contain her excitement. Dresses were one of her favorite things.

* * *

When Santana arrived at the spot she had chosen for lunch, she realized that duh, it was lunch time and her favorite food stand was swarmed with people. Not the best place for her to be when she was trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. Writing lunch off as a bust for the moment, Santana decided to go ahead and run into the art store. She was surprised when she walked in the store to see Detective Beiste standing at the counter paying for an acrylic paint set.

Detective Beiste looked up when he heard the bell on the door chime. He smiled in greeting at Santana. "Good afternoon, Santana."

"Detective." Santana nodded her head in greeting. "That's a nice set, for you?" Santana asked as she pointed to the paint set.

"Oh no. The most I can paint is some stick figures and shapes. It's for my niece. Figured I would pick it up while on break." Detective Beiste thanked the cashier and stepped away from the counter, heading towards the door. He motioned with his head for Santana to follow him.

"What's going on?" Santana implored as the door closed softly behind them. "I thought you were going to California with Chief Sylvester?"

"No, I stayed here to help sort the paper work to bring him back. Listen, I know Duncan told you that Conner got away at the airport, but they caught him after, right?" Santana nodded her head. "Okay, well apparently he dropped something in the airport, a backpack or duffle bag. Anyway, someone was waiting in the airport for him because by the time they got around to checking for it, it was gone. The last thing I heard was they were going to find his father and question him. We do know that Conner never made it to see his father though, he was caught in part because his cab driver realized who he was and pulled over for the police."

Santana took a step back and tried to rationalize everything she had just been told. "So, right now this is where we are. Conner escaped jail with the help of a doctor who is a family friend. The doctor has a ticket and fake ID waiting on him. Conner puts some distance between him and the police and is able to get on a plane to California. He gets off the plane, does a drop and run but then his cab driver turns him over when the police catch up to him."

Detective Beiste nodded his head. "That's what we have right now. They're still trying to locate the doctor, he was gone when they showed up at the hospital to arrest him. We don't have any more leads on the possibility that they are after the whole Berry family and we don't know yet who picked up the bag in the airport. But I assure you we are doing everything we can. It's just a waiting game at the moment. Oh and the decoders at the jail are still working on the letters. They do think they had a system figured out though, so we should hear something soon."

Santana shook her head and threw her hands up in the air. "It's just all so confusing and ridiculous. He wanted to get caught by the police, he could have made that cab driver go on if he had wanted to. I have big plans Friday and I don't need this tainting them."

"I assure you we are working on it." Detective Beiste said solemnly. He really wanted to get this all figured out and taken care of. He was really getting tired of dealing with the Porter's and anyone associated with them. Just as he was about to say something else, his pager went off. "That might be someone from the station now. I'm going to go call them and I will let you know something when I know."

"Thanks. Oh and tell your niece, happy painting." Santana gave a weak smile. Like Detective Beiste had said, it was all a waiting game now. She just hoped they wouldn't have to wait too long.

"It will make her day knowing her favorite artist sends support." Detective Beiste didn't say anything more, just scurried away pulling at his pager to see who needed him now.

* * *

It was nearing dinner time when Rachel finally pulled up at the cabin. She was so tired and the door was so far away. Maybe she could sleep in her car. Kurt had made her try on at least thirty dresses before they reached an agreement. Rachel sighed as she grabbed the to-go box of curry out of her front passenger seat. She had called Santana when Kurt have given her a small break and they had agreed that Rachel would pick something up for dinner since both women were tired. It really had been a long day.

Practically dragging herself across the yard, Rachel assumed Santana was already in the house until she heard the low roar of something coming around the cabin. Ah, Santana was out on one of favorite toys that wasn't the ATV's or tractor. That must have been what she took out to the field with her, Rachel mused to herself. When Santana came into view, Rachel wasn't surprised to see Dax and Dahlia both riding shot gun, however Santana looked a little...pissed off. The reason became obvious when she parked up and climbed out of the utility vehicle.

The overalls Santana had changed into when she got home (don't laugh, they are comfortable and convenient) was soaked from the waist down. It was all Dax and Dahlia's fault that she was soaked. All she had to do was double check that her irrigation system was clear. Run some water backwards, blow out any debris and reset the pipes into the pond that was her reservoir for her crops. Dax had decided that he was going to investigate the edge of the pond, Dahlia of course decided to go with him. You can probably guess the rest.

Rachel covered her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. Santana looked so dejected and sad. Rachel shifted the box of curry so that she could set it down on the swing. She playfully pouted at Santana as she made her way across the porch. "What happened baby?"

"I had to go into the pond to get this one." Santana held Dahlia up to Rachel's face. The puppy barked and tried to lick Rachel's nose.

"Aww, she just wanted to swim like her big brother." Rachel took Dahlia out of Santana's hands. She wasn't about to cuddle the puppy with nice clean clothes on.

"No, don't coddle her. She is in trouble and she is going in her pen for the rest of the evening after her and Dax get baths." Yeah, that would show her. Put her in the pen with her bed, toys, training patch, food and water. She was really being punished.

"Santana." Rachel scolded lightly. "She's just a baby, look at her little face." Rachel held Dahlia up in front of her face. "You can't be mad at this face." Jeez, was the dog really pouting? Dahlia started to whine like she was trying to repeat everything Rachel was saying.

"Okay, fine whatever. But she's not allowed to go out there with me for a while. Dax isn't allowed to go either, since he led her into the pond."

"That's fair enough. You forgot something though."

Santana looked around the porch like she was missing something. "What did I forget?" She had a puzzled look on her face until she looked back at Rachel who now had her lips puckered waiting for a kiss. "Oh. Hi baby." Santana said before she rocked forward and gave Rachel a kiss.

"Hi." Rachel opened her eyes and grinned at Santana. "I got your favorite curry, soooo...why don't you strip and then we can have dinner." Rachel looked Santana up and down before turning on her heel and heading into the cabin. Her woman was still sexy even in wet overalls.

Santana looked down at Dahlia who had been sat down on the porch in favor of the curry and began to undo the straps on her overalls. "I am all kinds of down for eating curry naked!" Santana yelled as she hurried behind Rachel stopping only momentarily to let Dahlia make her way inside before shutting the door.


	13. Do You Trust Me

Thursday morning Rachel shifted in bed reaching out her hand to find Santana's side of the bed cold and empty. Rolling onto her back, Rachel gave her eyes a minute to adjust to the soft light that had settled in the bedroom. Looking towards the window, Rachel noticed that it was raining. She smiled to herself, a rainy day with nothing to do. She wondered where Santana was, she knew that the chickens needed to be fed, hopefully she had been able to do that before it started raining.

Rachel let her mind wonder to the ring that was still hidden in the barn. Of all places, why did she pick the barn? She wasn't sure but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now she just had to figure out how she was going to go out there and get it without Santana noticing. She also had to figure out when she was going to propose. Tomorrow was her father and daughter day that Santana had planned for her and Leroy. It was always lovely to spend the day with her dad and she hadn't spent much time with him since she got home.

Sighing Rachel decided she might as well get up, shower and either stay naked or put on lounge clothes. Maybe she should put lounge clothes on, there was no telling who might try and stop by. Santana could always strip her later, Rachel giggled to herself. When Rachel reached the bottom of the stairs she noticed that Dax was stretched out in his bed snoring away. Dahlia was in much the same position in her bed inside her play pen. Well now Rachel really wondered where Santana was, if she was outside both of the dogs would be with her. Was she even home?

"Santana?" Rachel called out, huffing when didn't receive an answer. It was a lazy rainy day and Santana wasn't home to spend it with her. Pouting, Rachel walked into the kitchen to find a note and still fairly warm coffee.

_Rachel, _

_Went to town to grab some breakfast. Didn't feel like cooking or waking you up. Be back soon._

_I love you._

_Santana_

Rachel smiled at the note. Considering the coffee was still fairly warm, Santana hadn't been gone long. She had plenty of time to shower and get dressed before Santana got back. But for the moment she was going to enjoy the coffee Santana had left, which oh yes already had her favorite creamer in it. Baileys Mudslide was like drinking coffee with a drop of heaven in it. This lazy day was looking better and better.

* * *

Santana stepped out of McKinley dinner carrying breakfast for two when she almost ran into someone while searching for her keys. She looked up startled. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?" The man was looking at her like he was trying to figure something out about her. Santana huffed, what was up with this dude? "Yo, are you okay?" Her snarky tone broke him out of his stare.

"I'm fine. No harm done." He smiled. It was a little creepy.

Santana raised her eyebrow. She was going to walk away now, this guy just gave her bad vibes. "Well, if you're okay. I am going to go." Santana motioned to the bag that she was holding tighter now for some reason and started towards her Jeep finally locating her keys in her jacket pocket.

"Hey, wait." He called out, causing Santana to turn around and face him. She tightened the grip on her keys, shifting the keys around so that she had a pointy edge if he got to close. There was just something really off about this guy and she was the only one in the parking lot with him. Where in the hell were the other people that lived in this town? "Don't I know you?"

"You don't know me." Santana tilted her head to the side, looking at this man curiously.

"Yeah, you're Santana Lopez." The guy took two steps towards Santana which resulted in Santana taking two steps backwards. She was so close to her Jeep but yet still so far away.

"You know my name, that doesn't mean you know me."

"You're right." He replied, squinting his eyes again at her like he was analyzing her or something. "Have a nice day Santana." There was that smile again. With that smile and the way he said her name, Santana shivered.

"Yeah...you too..."

"Jasper. Jasper McNeal."

Santana started walking backwards towards her Jeep, she wasn't about to turn her back on this guy. She hummed that she had heard his name, but wasn't going to say anything else. She heaved a sigh of relief when she was able to climb into her Jeep and lock the doors. Jasper was still standing on the sidewalk smiling at her. Weird, Santana mumbled to herself as she backed out of her parking space and headed home; checking her mirrors until he was out of sight to make sure he hadn't followed her.

Yes, she is aware that she wrote this dude off as soon as his smile came across as creepy. But it was more than just his smile, it was this feeling she had in her gut that running into him wasn't just an accident. Thousands of people knew her name, she was humble enough to not say millions because that would be a huge stretch. Jasper gave off this _I think I know everything vibe_, he didn't even have to say anything, body language can say a lot about a person if you know how to read it. So what if she was being paranoid, with everything that had happened to Rachel, she had a right.

* * *

Rachel looked up smiling when Santana pulled back up at the cabin. After finishing her coffee she had taken a shower and then took both dogs outside to play since they were getting wound up after having their breakfast. They would both need serious baths since it was still raining. Dahlia was slowly getting the hang of playing catch, soon she would be as good as her big brother.

"Hi babe!" Rachel yelled as Santana made her way across the yard.

"Hi love." Santana replied as she stepped up onto the porch and gave Rachel a kiss.

Santana laughed as Dax made his way up onto the porch, Dahlia following as quickly as she could. "These two are going straight to the bathroom to wait for baths when we go in."

"I know I should have just let them use their potty patches, but they were getting antsy too. We can bath them after we eat. Which speaking of." Rachel tried to look into the bag that Santana was carrying. "What all did you get?"

"Well, my lady. I got the works." Santana called over her shoulder as she went into the cabin, hung up her rain jacket and headed toward the kitchen while Rachel led the dogs into the bathroom. "Breakfast burritos, fruit salad and waffles with a mixed fruit compote."

"Thank you for going to get breakfast." Rachel murmured as she wrapped her arms around Santana from behind and kissed her on the shoulder.

"You're welcome. I would have been home sooner, but I literally ran into this guy when I was coming out of the diner." Santana shivered again just thinking about him. Maybe it was the dampness of her shirt causing it or maybe it really was him.

"Was you hurt or him?" Rachel asked as she sat down at the island and watched Santana unpack all the breakfast items. She eyed one of the breakfast burritos, she was starving.

"No, we were both fine. He just seemed a little odd, told me he knew me. His name was Jake...Josh...no it was Jasper." Santana shrugged her shoulders as she divided up the breakfast onto two plates.

"Jasper McNeal?" Rachel questioned.

"Yeah, that's it. He has a super creepy smile. I actually made sure he didn't follow me home or something."

"He's one of the new interns at the studio. I think he's harmless, kind of full of himself maybe and likes to make excuses. But harmless none the less."

Santana stood there for a moment thinking about what Rachel had just said. So she was going to be working with guy for a while. That was..interesting. She would have to keep an eye on this guy herself.

"Well, I don't like him. My gut agrees with me." Santana stood with her hands spayed out on the island counter.

"Gut feelings can be wrong sometimes and you don't like most people. Like I said I think he's harmless. He gave me an odd feeling when I first met him yesterday, but after talking to him a bit before the end of the meeting, I think he's just a weird dude." Rachel had stopped analyzing Jasper and his Uncle in California. There was no way that his Uncle was associated with any of the Porter men. With everything that was going on, she was just being paranoid. It was something she was going to have work on, not everyone she met was associated with the Porter men. That mind set would only driver her crazy. She wasn't going to tell Santana about that part of her gut feeling at first. Santana already worried too much as it is, Rachel didn't feel like she needed to add onto that.

"I don't want you alone with him." Santana said as if she was giving a final verdict.

Rachel sighed and sat her burrito back on her plate. "I will be working with him on and off for the next two months, there will be times that I am alone with him possibly. It will be fine. If he ever makes me feel uncomfortable, I can handle myself."

Santana dropped her head and stared at the counter top. "I know you can handle yourself, that's one of the many things that I love about you. But Rachel you have to admit that sometimes you do give people the benefit of the doubt when they don't deserve it. I'm telling you, my gut doesn't trust this guy for some reason."

"Are you calling me naive or gullible?" Rachel narrowed her eyes at Santana with a scowl.

Going over everything that she had just said, Santana tilted her head thinking. "Nope, pretty sure I didn't say you were either one of those things."

"Yeah, you kind of did."

Santana threw her hands up in the air and chuckled dryly. "No, I didn't Rachel." Santana brought her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She didn't need this today, the day before she was going to propose. "I'm just saying, you have a big heart that likes to look for the good in people and that's great, but don't be so quick to write this guy off as harmless. How much do you really know about this guy from meeting him once?"

"I know that he is in law school, but he does music classes on this side to keep his uncle off his back. He really is a good writer. No significant other that I know of yet, he's what you would probably call kind of nerdy a little anit-social. I even pegged him as odd when I fist met him, but I got over that. Do you trust me?"

"What does that have to do with anything? Of course I trust you."

"Then trust me that I know what I am doing. I'm not just listening, I hear what you are saying and I will be careful around him. Look if it will make you feel better, maybe we can talk to Puck about having a work dinner. You can meet him officially and all the other interns. Because if he "wins" this internship and gets the job, he will be around a lot and you need to focus on your work instead of worrying about me all the time."

"Okay, we will do this your way." Santana finally relented. Was Santana happy about relenting? Of course not. But she was proposing tomorrow and she didn't want to fight with Rachel all day today. As soon as she had the chance she was going to research this Jasper McNeal man and find out some stuff about him herself. He wanted her to know his name, otherwise after apologies and making sure each other was fine, they would have went on about their own business. For now, she was going to trust that Rachel could handle this herself.


	14. Let The Proposal Begin

When Santana's alarm went off on Friday morning she quickly silenced it as to not wake Rachel. Breakfast in bed wouldn't be a surprise if Rachel was awake to watch her make it. Santana quietly slipped out from underneath the covers and grabbed her robe before making her way downstairs. Her stomach fluttered with nervous jitters, today was finally the big day. Hopefully by tonight she would be an engaged woman and she couldn't be more excited. She had been really worried after yesterday evening that all the plans she had made for today was going to fall through.

After their little spat about Jasper, Rachel and Santana had spent the evening enjoying each others company and hanging out. Well they done more than hang out, even a little spat could justify some pretty awesome make-up sex. She truly didn't mean to make Rachel upset, she trusted her more than anything, it just Jasper she didn't trust. The thought of her maybe just being paranoid still lingered in the back of her mind. Maybe it was just something ingrained in her that kept her wary of new people, a self protection mechanism of sorts. However, once she officially met Jasper and figured out more about him, her current opinion of him could change. If that was the case then she welcomed that change, like Rachel had said, she couldn't hang around the studio all day if he got the job.

For now she was going to push all of that out of her mind, because she had a breakfast to cook and then once Rachel was gone she had a cabin to set up. Santana gathered all the things that she would need to make what had became Rachel's favorite breakfast, torrijas. Really she thinks Rachel just likes the fact she can justifiably eat something fairly sweet for breakfast. Along with the torrijas there was a fruit salad and obviously orange juice and coffee. It wasn't a huge breakfast by any means, but they don't really do heavy breakfasts that often. Heavy breakfasts were saved for hangover mornings.

Santana moved around the kitchen as quietly as possible. Why was it that when you were trying to be quiet everything seemed to sound a thousand times louder? Oh, you want that pan off the rack let's make these other two pans clang together first. You want that one bowl on the top shelf, how about this invisible force almost pushes all of them out onto your head. Now all the plates make noise! It was like a never ending battle. Maybe she should have stuffed some ear plugs in Rachel's ears before she came down this morning.

Dax came barreling into the kitchen when he heard all the ruckus that Santana was making. Considering Dahlia was in her play pen, she settled for howling to get Santana's attention that she too was hungry. Quickly putting an end to that nonsense, Santana sat Dax up with a bowl of food and took Dahlia a little bowl of her favorite kibble. She was in a time crunch now, both dogs always had to go to the bathroom roughly thirty minutes after breakfast. They were like clock work.

* * *

Santana grinned at her handy work proudly. She knew she could cook, if painting ever failed her she could easily transition into a master chef. The food tray was set up very carefully and neatly, finished off with a little flower in a vase. Now she just had to make it up the stairs without tripping, dropping or sloshing anything. That was a task within itself. Dax and Dahlia were both playing with their toys in the living room. It was nice that Dax had someone to play with him now, he didn't have to depend on his master all the time to throw his frisbee.

Laughing at Dahlia who was eagerly trying to take Dax's rope toy, Santana made her way slowly up the stairs to the loft. Rachel was still snoozing away or at least pretending to be snoozing. Santana didn't need to know that she had been awake for roughly ten minutes just laying there thinking about proposing. It needed to be perfect, there were so many ideas running around in her head.

"Rachel." Santana called quietly as she reached the top of the stairs. She bit her lip in thought about how she was going to open the gate with her hands full. Stepping over it seemed to be the most logical option, except her legs were kind of short no matter how hard she denied it. She didn't have to think long before Rachel decided to open her eyes. Smiling when she saw Santana looking at the gate like it was a bomb she was trying to defuse, Rachel got out of the bed to open it for her. Santana smiled gratefully and then ushered Rachel right back into bed.

"What's this for?" Rachel asked as she climbed back under the covers and Santana sat the tray down.

"Just wanted to make you breakfast in bed before you had to get ready." Santana shrugged her shoulders bashfully like it was no big deal.

"Are you going to eat with me?" Rachel held out a fork with a piece of pineapple on it.

"I snacked while I was cooking. But I will join you." Santana carefully climbed on the bed and laid down beside Rachel. Rachel bent over and gave Santana a lovely good morning kiss and thanked her for breakfast. Santana was doing a happy dance internally, Rachel appreciated her breakfast and the morning was off to a great start. Leroy had messaged her after he left the lodge and let her know that the dress was there and waiting. Her mental check list was looking good so far.

Rachel moaned around a mouth full of torrijas. She always loved when Santana made this or churro's for breakfast. Any time that you could start your day off with something sweet was a great day. Rachel wondered what was going on with Santana. Breakfast in bed wasn't an outlandish thing for Santana to do, but the way Santana was acting is what had Rachel puzzled. She looked nervous but excited, like she was dangling on the edge of some fascinating new thing for the world to marvel at.

"What's going on with you?" Rachel asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

Santana shrugged her shoulders from where she laying propped up on her elbow on the bed. "Nothing, just in a really good mood today."

"Did you almost blow something up again?" Rachel narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"What?! No, of course not. Why would you think that would put me in a really good mood anyway? That was one time and it's not my fault the cap slipped and the wires accidentally touched." Santana sat upright ready to defend herself. She knew what she was doing when she worked on her solar panels and battery storage system. It wasn't her fault that Rachel had came out there in nothing but her robe and Santana had gotten distracted and didn't double check that the cap was on a wire while she worked on the other. Rachel was exaggerating, it wasn't anything close to an almost explosion. It was simply a medium sized spark...which result in some dead batteries she had to replace but that was it. "Like I said, I am just in a really good mood. You're going to have a lovely day with your dad and I am going to paint you something magnificent."

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? I mean he treats you like his daughter too."

Santana shook her head. "Today is all about you two."

* * *

After giving Santana a more proper thank you for breakfast, Rachel finally went to get in the shower. She had to be quick considering her thank you had taken a little longer than she had anticipated. Sometimes when she was beyond loved up leaving Santana was like temporarily detaching one of her limbs. Reluctantly she had made her way into the shower while Santana waited upstairs for her turn. Rachel didn't know why they just didn't take a shower together in the first place and then she remembered that yeah they would have gotten carried away again and Leroy was supposed to be there in just over a half an hour. She really did need to hurry.

Rachel was just about to put her shoes on when there was a knock on the front door. Santana's eyes went wide as she quickly darted towards the hadn't even bothered to look at the time when she came down the stairs. Leroy didn't need to have any idea about the things that Santana had done to his daughter this morning, it was just too embarrassing.

"Hi Dad!" Rachel greeted in her most innocent voice as she pulled the door open.

"Hi, honey. How are you this morning." Leroy responded placing a kiss on Rachel's cheek.

"I'm great." Rachel sighed happily as she leaned against the front door for support. Leroy eyed her warily. He really didn't want to know.

"Are you ready to go?" Leroy asked as he glanced around the cabin, presumably looking for his other daughter.

"Yeah, just let me go say bye to Santana, she was getting ready to take a shower." Rachel stepped away from the door and headed in the direction that Santana had went.

"I'm leaving now babe." Rachel called as she knocked on the bathroom door. Santana opened the door a crack so that Rachel could see her face.

"Okay, I love you and have fun. I will see you tonight when you get home." Santana gave Rachel a dopey grin. The woman still had no idea what had put Santana in a really good mood. Now however, she was in a super lovey good mood which could mean great things for Rachel.

With a goodbye kiss, Santana stepped back into the bathroom and shut the door. Rachel waited until she could hear the water running before she made her way back into the living room making sure she was quiet as possible before grabbing the barn key off the hook by the door. Leroy watched her curiously with amusement in his eyes.

"I have to run to the barn and get something really quick before we go." Rachel said as she practically sprinted across the yard, not giving Leroy any time to respond. Leroy just watched her go as he made his way back to his car to wait.

Rachel unlocked and opened the side door on the barn, it would take too long to open the main doors by herself. Counting in her head she walked down to the stall that contained the hidden ring. Grinning triumphantly when she found it. She marveled at the ring that she had picked out, it was simple for the most part. Rachel had never seen the style of ring before, a black diamond princess cut with a 18k black gold band. When she saw it, Rachel knew it was all she could ever dream of giving Santana in the form of a ring.

She closed the box quickly and stuffed it into her pocket before she sprinted back across the yard and into the cabin to put the barn key back. She could just barely hear the water still running over the sound of Santana singing. It was nice to hear Santana sing, she had a beautiful voice but she didn't show it off nearly enough. Maybe she could try and convince Santana to sing on a song with her one day. She had asked before and Santana remained strong with her firm answer of no, it never hurts to ask again.

Leroy watched Rachel skip out of the cabin and finally make her way into the car. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask, however he knew that Rachel would tell him soon enough. You could feel the energy starting to crackle around Rachel, whatever was going on.. it was going to be big.


	15. Unexpected Guest

Rachel kept her hand in her pocket fumbling around with the ring box. She knew her father knew that something was up, if the side eyes he kept giving her was any indication. Rachel decided to keep quiet for now, she would reveal everything when they were at lunch. Hopefully her father wouldn't choke or get strangled, her announcement would have to be well timed.

Rachel was dancing in her seat a little when her and Leroy settled into the movie seats. It felt like it had been forever since she had actually seen a movie instead of just being in one. Considering that it was so early in the day, the theater was empty. Rachel didn't mind, she was a talker and so was her father. They could discuss the movie without being shushed the entire time. She grinned as Leroy sat down beside her right in the middle, the only best and most logical place to sit of course. Leroy passed the small bucket of popcorn as the lights dimmed and the previews began.

* * *

Santana stepped back to look at her handy work. She was serious when she said she was going to paint Rachel something magnificent. Rachel just didn't know that the words _will you marry me_ would also be painted on it. The painting itself was a large galaxy painting. Rachel deserved to have her name written in the stars. Yeah, this was about as mushy as she could get without dissolving into a puddle. To see the look on Rachel's face would be priceless though and that made it all worth it.

Going about cleaning her brushes off, Santana spun around startled when her studio door opened. She really shouldn't have been surprised to see Dax and Dahlia standing there wagging their tails. Dax barked once and that's all it took for Dahlia to start trying imitate him. Her bark would be stronger as soon as she got a bit older.

"Are you two ready to go outside?" The word outside was all it took for Dax to take back off into the living room to grab his frisbee. He was always ready to go outside at a moments notice.

* * *

"Well what did you think?" Leroy asked as he and Rachel exited the theater waving by to the new manager that Finn had hired a few weeks prior. She was a sweet girl, Rachel just couldn't recall her name at the moment.

"I love it. You know I am a sucker for romcoms though."

"Yeah, you get that from me." Leroy replied with a wink as he slung his arm around Rachel's shoulders. "Were would you like to go get some lunch at?"

"Hmmm, how about you pick?" Rachel looked up at her father. He always picked good places to eat and she could tell by the glimmer in his eye that he already knew the place to go.

"You up for some sushi?"

"Always." Rachel smiled as they made their way back to Leroy's car not noticing the man watching them from across the street.

* * *

Rachel was halfway done with her sushi platter when she finally decided that she was going to take the plunge and tell Leroy about the ring that was burning a hole in her pocket. She wiped her mouth and laid down her napkin before taking a sip of her ice water. Why had her mouth suddenly gone dry? Jeez, she felt like she was _asking_ for Santana's hand in marriage or something. Speaking of..should she call the Lopez's and ask them? Would they tell her to piss off without a second thought? With the excitement of asking Santana and everything else that was going, asking the Lopez's for permission to marry Santana had been the last thing on her mind.

Santana still didn't have that great of a relationship with her parents. The last time she has seen them had been in the hospital after the accident. They called every once in a while just to say hi and try to make some form of small talk. Just like when she was little, they barely noticed that they had a daughter. Rachel's heart broke for Santana, she couldn't imagine growing up like that. Either way, she needed to tell her father first that she was going to propose to Santana as soon as she figured out how to she wanted to do it. She watched her father finish chewing his bite of sushi before she placed her hand on his to get his attention.

Leroy quirked his eyebrow at Rachel when he noticed that she was starting to vibrate with energy again. "What's going on Rachel?"

"I uh..I have some big news." Rachel smiled as she turned around in her chair to fish the ring box out of the pocket of her jacket that was hanging on her chair. She placed the box on the table and slid it towards Leroy, motioning with her head and eyes for him to open it.

Leroy looked at the box like it might explode if he touched it. He had a very good idea about what was hiding in that box. When Rachel noticed that Leroy still hadn't opened the box, she reached out and brushed it with her fingers, sliding it closer. "Just look at it dad, please."

Internally, Leroy was starting to panic a bit. Sure he was beyond happy that his daughter was possibly proposing, he still hadn't opened the box, but Santana was proposing tonight. He was stuck in between a rock and hard place. There was no way in hell that he could call Santana and tell her and there was no way in hell that he could tell Rachel about what was supposed to happen tonight. Finally opening the box, Leroy peered at the ring inside. It was gorgeous and it honestly was perfect for Santana.

"Is this an engagement ring?" Leroy asked as he removed the ring from the box to get a closer look.

"It is. I want to ask Santana to marry me." Rachel was starting to bounce in her seat. She clasped her hands between her knees to try and control herself.

"Finally going to make her a permanent daughter. I approve completely and this really is a stunning ring. When do you plan on asking?" Leroy started chanting _please not tonight_ in his head.

"I'm not sure." Well that was a better answer than tonight. "I want to do something special for her but not huge, you know she doesn't like really big over the top stuff."

"Well, I say figure out what you would like to do first and then set the date. It gives you a better time frame to prepare. The process of proposing should be fun and exciting not stressing out at the last minute figuring out how to get everything done on time." That had been the advice that Leroy had given Santana when she had asked for his help in preparing for Rachel's proposal. Leroy had to keep up the facade that he knew nothing about what was going to happen tonight. He knew that as soon as Santana proposed tonight, Rachel was going to break out her ring and a double proposal would happen. It was inevitable.

He couldn't wait to hear about it all. This was one thing that he had always lived for, Rachel getting married. His little girl walking down the isle, joining hands with her forever person. He just wished Hiram could be there to also walk Rachel down the isle. However, he would be there in spirit and...the form of video tape. Hiram was a hard working man, but he also a great family man. When you're a doctor sometimes it can be very hard to find that balance. When he was able to find that balance for the biggest milestones in Rachel's life he always had a video camera strapped to his hand. There were tons of home videos that Leroy had slowly been converting into DVD's for Rachel and for himself. He had the perfect idea to put together a video for Rachel and Santana. He would just have to figure out how to get pictures of Santana from when she was little. If the Lopez's was lacking in memories of their child, maybe Santana knew where some were. She did spend a lot of time with her grandfather growing up. He would definitely have to ask.

Just as Rachel was about to respond to her father about some ideas she might have, she noticed a shadow looming over their table. She was surprised to see Jasper standing there when she looked up. What was he doing in St. Lawrence? He should be at the studio working or so she thought.

"Hi Ms. Berry." He grinned and yeah Rachel could see why Santana really thought his smile was creepy. "How are you, today?" Jasper asked, briefly looking at Leroy and subtly dismissing his presence.

"Hello Jasper. I'm great, I was just having a bit of lunch with my father Leroy Berry." Rachel motioned to her father who was giving Jasper the stink eye.

Jasper turned to his right and stuck his hand out. "I apologize for interrupting your lunch. I'm Jasper McNeal."

Leroy looked at Jasper's hand, before deciding that he might as well be a little polite and shake it. "It's nice to meet you. Can I ask how do you know Rachel?"

"Jasper is an intern for PF Productions. He is up for a writing position working with me on my album we are planning. Speaking of, why are you not at work? I know Puck had some stuff going on for you guys today."

"I'm on my lunch and wanted some sushi. I heard this was the best in the county so..here I am." Jasper did a little jazz hand number motioning to the entire restaurant.

"How did you manage to get an almost two hour lunch in order to drive out here, eat and drive back?"

"I told Puck I had a family matter to take care of while on lunch and I would be a while. He understood and let me go." Jasper grinned again, feeling like he had just developed the best lie known to man. Everyone knows the best lie known to man is that _yes you have read and agree to those terms and conditions_. Rachel sat there flabbergasted, Jasper had just admitted to lying just to go get sushi.

Leroy cleared his throat after seeing the perplexed look on Rachel's face. "Son, it's not wise to tell basically your boss that you lied to the bigger boss." Jasper faltered, he hadn't really thought of it that way.

"I better be on my way then. It was nice seeing you Ms. Berry and nice to meet you Mr. Berry." Jasper quickly turned and practically sprinting out of the door. If Rachel called Puck on him he would lose his internship and everything would be ruined. This was bad, if his uncle found out he would be in some major hot water.

Rachel turned to look at her father. "What just happened?"

Leroy chuckled as he took a sip of his drink. "I think someone is scared they're going to get in trouble."

"Really though? A family matter to come and get sushi? Who even does that?" Rachel was slowly gathering her things so that they could get ready to go. "I should call Puck on him, but I won't. Apparently his uncle tries to squash this dream for him and losing that internship would just give him another kick in the shins. But if I catch him doing something like this again, I won't hesitate to call."

"You have a big heart honey. I would have already dialed the number."

"Yeah well, Santana said the same thing. Sometimes I give people the benefit of the doubt too often."

Leroy smiled as he stood up from the table and grabbed his keys. "You do, but it's not always a bad thing. Now I think I have a lovely mud bath calling my name and you my dear have a full spa package waiting on you."

"I can't wait. You might have to take me home in a bucket." Rachel laughed as she leaned into Leroy's side as they made their way to the counter to pay for their food.

"That's okay, I would love you even as a pile of goop as I am sure Santana would too."


	16. Almost Time

While Rachel and Leroy made their way towards the lodge for their spa evening, Santana was running around the cabin like a chicken with its head cut off. She wished it wasn't so warm out, she would have loved to light the fire place, however she didn't want to turn into a hot sweaty mess. There was also the fact that she didn't want to drain the battery storage for the air conditioner's. Oh yes, one of her major investments in the past three years had been these new air conditioners that had their own solar panels and battery storage systems. They were major blessings in disguise, one compromise she refused to make was taking on an electricity bill. Her grandfather had never had one and she wasn't going to tear up the yard having poles put in.

That was all beside the point. Without the fireplace Santana had to figure out a more inventive way to make the cabin romantic. Hence the struggle of trying to find the clear Christmas lights that were supposed to be in the utility closet. She could have swore that's where Rachel had put them, maybe the candles on the mantel, island and dinner table would have to do. Were Christmas lights used any other time besides Christmas considered tacky? Santana didn't know, she shoved the box she had been searching through back into the closet. It was a total of five hours before Leroy would be bringing Rachel home. Santana still had to put the rest of dinner together, shower and change into her clothes that she had picked out for the evening. She had really considered a dress, but she didn't want to show off her vagina when she got down on one knee. Rachel wouldn't mind of course, but it would just be too awkward. Really, have you ever tried to get down on one knee in a fairly tight dress before? It would completely ruin the mood if Santana tried and took a tumble.

Deciding it was best, Santana had laid out black dress pants, a semi-flowy white blouse and heels. She was going to be smoking hot. There was no way that Rachel was going to say no to her...well hopefully. Heading back into the kitchen, Santana stopped and pulled the marinating meat out of the ice box. It only had to cook four and a half hours, so it would be perfectly cooked and hot when Rachel got home. As Santana moved the meat over to a baking dish, she glanced around the kitchen, everything was pretty much done preparation wise. Without much left to do, the nerves were really starting to set in, it was definitely go time.

* * *

Rachel pulled her robe tighter around herself as she made her way into the sauna room. This was first, then her massage and last was her facial while getting a manicure and pedicure simultaneously. The lodge had really stepped their game up from when they first made plans to add a spa. Her dad was currently soaking in his mud bath, she didn't care much for that treatment. The thought of getting mud in odd places was just not as welcoming to her as one might think.

Grabbing a towel, Rachel quickly wrapped it around herself even if no one else was in there that she could see. But then again it was a women's public steam room. Someone could easily be hiding, it wouldn't be the first time someone had nearly scared the piss out of her in a steam room before. It was last summer and Santana had a show in San Francisco. Rachel had been lucky enough to have free time and was able to join her. It was always fun to see Santana in such an elegant light, anyway the hotel they had been staying at offered a mini spa package with a private sauna as a suite perk. Santana had went down ahead of Rachel to double check that the sauna was clean. Never let Santana Lopez tell you she isn't a bit of a germaphobe, because she would be lying. This little story is turning out to be a lot longer than initially planned. The main thing is, Santana cranked up the steam and as soon as Rachel sat down and started to relax, Santana had let out a blood curdling scream in result Rachel also screamed. They were lucky that they weren't thrown out of the hotel that evening.

Rachel chuckled to herself, Santana thought it was hilarious and Rachel refused to speak to her for the rest of the night. So yeah, maybe a casual hello would ease her nerves..but what if someone said hello back when she already thought she was alone. This wasn't going to help her relax at all! Jeez, get out of your head Rachel and just enjoy the steam. Rachel sighed contently and leaned back against the tile bench, she had had a wonderful day with her dad, he was beyond supportive about the future engagement and she got to go home to the most beautiful woman in the world tonight. Her life was just getting better and better.

* * *

When Santana finally made her way towards the shower, she realized that she had made a huge mistake. She had gotten the dress and shoes for Rachel to wear but she had forgot the woman's makeup bag and other toiletries. It was still roughly three hours before Rachel was due to come home. She had plenty of time to run all that stuff down to the lodge and make it back considering the drive down there was only roughly twenty minutes. However in total that meant she would lose almost an hour of time and she still had to shower and get herself ready.

Making a snap decision, Santana gathered up everything she knew Rachel would need before she turned down the oven and sprinted out the front door. Stopping suddenly with everything in her hands, Santana looked down to realize that she didn't have any shoes on. She shrugged her shoulders, she could easily go on without shoes...but she was sure someone would frown upon that when she walked into the lodge.

Running over to her Jeep, she dumped everything in the passenger seat before running back into the cabin to grab some shoes. Santana grabbed her phone to call Leroy and let him know what was going on, maybe he could meet her in the lobby and take everything up to the room where Rachel's dress was.

Scrolling through her contacts, Santana found Leroy's name and listened as the phone rung on the other end. _"Hello Santana!"_

_"Hi Leroy, listen. I made a huge mistake. I didn't give you any of Rachel's toiletries and stuff since she was using it this morning and I didn't think to grab her travel bag of stuff that she keeps packed all the time when I gave you the dress."_

_"Oh, dear. Yeah that might be a problem. Are you still at home? I just came out of my mud bath and I am about to go see Bayani, but I can wait for you if you are bringing it down here."_

_"I'm in the process of leaving the cabin right now. I will be there in twenty."_

_"Okay. Rachel should be about in the middle of her massage when you get here, so no worries there. Just be careful."_

_"I will, see you in a few."_

Santana rushed down the mountain attempting to make it to the lodge in record time. Hopefully none of Sue's minions would be out on patrol at the moment to tag her for speeding. When she finally reached the lodge, she saw Leroy standing there out front chatting away to Bayani. He must have just came off the mountain, she mused to herself. It was a great thing her Jeep had good brakes and there wasn't any ice in the parking lot because Santana would have made a lovely new door for the lodge had there been. She jumped out of her Jeep not even bothering to turn it off and ran towards Leroy holding the gathered toiletries like a baton in an Olympic race.

"Woah, slow down Santana." Leroy chuckled as he clutched the items to his chest. "It's okay. We have plenty of time and I will run this to the room as soon as I go back in."

"Thank you so much. I just can't believe I forgot it in the first place." Santana responded bending over and placing her hands on her knees. She felt like she really had just ran a race of some sorts.

"You've been trying to make this day perfect, it's okay to forget something as minuscule as this." Leroy nodded at the items in his arms. "Now, get home and finish getting ready yourself." Santana nodded and kissed Leroy on his cheek before waving bye and driving back home. Crisis adverted.

* * *

Santana ran through the cabin with one towel wrapped around her hair and another wrapped around her body. After getting back to the cabin she had turned the heat back up on dinner and ran around double and tripled checking that there was nothing else she could have forgotten. She was really in a rush now since she had made a snap decision to stop and pick up some flowers for Rachel. Hopefully everything would be done on time. She paused just as she reached the bottom of the stairs before turning around and sprinting towards the stove. Grasping her towel to her body, she grabbed an oven mitt to pull out the pan of meat that was almost done. Reaching into a hot oven with a towel on your head was never a good idea, but it was a risk that she was willing to take at the moment.

She grinned as she poked and prodded the meat. It looked delicious. She was starving and she couldn't wait for Rachel to get home to eat with her. The garlic and herb potatoes were keeping warm in the crock pot, the mixed salad was chilling in the ice box, everything was perfect. The last thing she had to do now was get herself ready. Time felt like it had flew by, considering Rachel would be home in about an hour or so now. Actually, Santana glanced at the clock. Leroy should be giving Rachel her dress right about now.

* * *

Rachel looked at the bell boy who had just stopped her quizzically. Why was this guy handing her a key to a room here at the lodge. This was more than a little strange.

"I am under strict orders to only give you the need to know Ms. Berry. Your father is waiting there," he reached out and tapped the key chain on the key, "with a very special surprise for you." He turned around with a grin and began to walk back towards the lodge front desk to assist someone with their bags.

"Wait, how do I know this isn't some messed up game or something?" Rachel looked around the front lobby. Were there hidden camera's around somewhere?

The bell boy turned back around and rolled his eyes. He carried luggage for a summer job, he didn't have time to be involved with silly games. "That is the key to your father Leroy Berry's room. He has a surprise for you, that's all I know. If I had more information then I would tell you."

Okay then, Rachel mumbled to herself as she took the key and headed towards the main stairs. She wondered why her father wanted to meet her in his room of all places? This was turning into a slightly odd evening. When Rachel stopped in front of the door, she knocked once and decided to use the key when she didn't receive an answer. She was surprised to actually see her father standing there with a huge smile on his face.

"Dad, what's going on?" Rachel asked skeptically as her eyes surveyed the room. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the beautiful dress laying on the bed.

"I am only allowed to say this." Leroy held up his finger as he opened a folded piece of paper. He hadn't even known the letter was in the dress bag until Santana had sent him a text telling him to go ahead and read it to Rachel when she came in the room. She was nervous she wouldn't find it in the bag.

_My Dearest Rachel,_

_If you're reading this then I know that everything has went according to plan, well for the most part. I would be willing to bet that something has went wrong at some point, most likely on my end of things. I have a special evening planned for you and this is just part one. A beautiful dress for a beautiful woman. Please put on the dress and have dinner with me soon? Your father knows where I am. _

_I love you,_

_Santana._

Rachel stood there with her hand over her mouth, this was such a romantic gesture. A little off the beaten path that Santana normally liked to take, but new and exciting things were something she was willing try. The dress was stunning, Santana really must have went to a lot of trouble picking it out. Leroy was still standing there grinning, now just holding the piece of paper in his hands.

"I will leave you to get ready. Come down stairs to the lobby and I will, as the letter says, take you to Santana." Leroy laid the noted down on the table and made his way towards the door.

"Okay, I will be quick." Rachel called over her shoulder as she pulled the zipper on the dress bag down.

"No need to rush sweet heart." Leroy glanced down at his watch. "You have plenty of time to get ready." With a wink, Leroy stepped out into the hallway, letting the door close softly behind him. T-minus one hour and counting.


	17. The Proposal

Rachel busied herself around the room trying to get ready quickly but still at a moderate pace. She wanted to look her best for whatever Santana was planning. The dress was absolutely stunning and of course Santana had gotten it to fit perfectly, maybe she should plan her outfits sometimes instead of Kurt. Kurt, Rachel realized this was one of his designs that she had fell in love with but never had the chance to wear since he was all about dramatics on a larger scale when it came to special events.

Having already grabbed a quick shower, Rachel went about doing her hair before she sat down in the floor in front of the floor length mirror to do her makeup. While Rachel continued to get ready she tried to figure out if she had missed any signs of tonight. Recounting everything in her head since she had gotten home the only thing that seemed odd was the overly great mood that Santana was in this morning. However, these evening plans obviously stemmed that good mood this morning. But it was just dinner? Right? Sure it was a very nice surprise dinner none the less but what about tonight was sending Santana practically over the moon? Rachel shrugged her shoulders, she would just have to wait and find out.

* * *

Standing downstairs in the lobby, Leroy fired off a text to Santana to let her know that Rachel was getting ready. He grinned when Santana messaged him back that everything was perfect and waiting. Leroy took a moment to collect himself, this was really happening. His baby would become an engaged woman tonight and then the super fun would start. Planning the wedding! Leroy could feel himself start to buzz with anticipation. When you become a parent, you want to give everything in the world to your children. You want to protect them and help them grow into the amazing adult that you know they can be. You also want them to be able to find that one special person that makes their world that much brighter and he was so glad that Rachel had found that in Santana. Sure the way they met was unconventional, but they were definitely meant to be together. He was just glad that they had found each other sooner rather than later for one more reasons than one. He also couldn't help the tears that threatened to fall, thankful that Rachel had allowed him back in her life. It would shatter his heart if he had missed any moment of all of this.

Leroy checked the time on his phone, they weren't on a super tight schedule but hopefully Rachel would make it down the stairs soon. He knew Santana was probably bouncing around the cabin double checking everything once again even though she had already told him that everything was perfect. This night meant everything for her too, Leroy just wanted everything to be amazing for his girls. Yes, Santana was already his daughter also, she had been for a while now.

When Leroy heard the distinct sounds of heels coming down the stairs he looked up to see Rachel. She looked absolutely stunning in the dress. She was grinning from ear to ear, walking carefully and holding the railing so that she didn't fall. Leroy walked over to greet her and take her hand before leading her outside towards the car. "You look gorgeous sweet heart."

"Thank you." Rachel smiled and kissed his cheek. "Now where are we headed?" She asked as she climbed into the passenger seat as her father held the door open.

"I am not to reveal that information." Leroy gave Rachel a sneaky look as he climbed in the car behind the steering wheel. "I am just responsible for delivering you to Santana."

"Let's go see my lady then." Rachel motioned with her hands to get going. She really couldn't wait to see Santana.

* * *

Santana felt like she had been standing outside for hours now, when in reality it had only been a few minutes. She waited at the end of the lit path she had made as a last minute add on. The inside of the cabin was stunning so why not add some flair outside as well. Tea candles and white paper bags could make any path look elegant enough. Santana shifted the bouquet of flowers around in her arms, she didn't want to be too cliche' and get plain roses so she had settled on a select mix. Each flower had it's individual meaning, however when combined they said a whole lot more. Santana held her breath as she heard a car coming up the road, smiling when she saw that it was Leroy and Rachel.

* * *

Rachel was a bit confused she thought they were going to meet Santana at a restaurant some place. "Dad why are we going to the cabin?"

Leroy grinned as he glanced at Rachel to his right. "This is where your surprise is. There she is." Leroy pointed his finger at Santana who slowly came into view as they rounded the last curve before the cabin.

Rachel could feel her breath catch in her throat. Santana looked amazing dressed in black slacks and white blouse. Awh and she was holding flowers. There was no wiping the beaming smile off of Rachel's face as they came to a stop in font of Santana who stepped forward to open the door for Rachel.

"Hi baby." Santana greeted Rachel with a kiss as she reached her hand in the car to help Rachel out.

"Hi. What is all of this?" Rachel asked in awe as she looked around Santana's shoulder at the path.

"A special night for you. These are yours too." Santana carefully placed the bouquet into Rachel's arms before bending over to speak to Leroy. "Thank you for getting her here. We will call you tomorrow." Santana winked before she straitened back up and took Rachel's hand and wrapped it around her arm.

Santana walked casually towards the cabin. She wanted to get to the best part about tonight but she knew she had to be patient. She would never forgive herself if she decided to just forgo all of her plans and just pop the question now. "Do you like your dress?"

Rachel looked down at herself. "I love my dress. You're pulling out all the stops tonight. A new dress, flowers...what else do you have up your sleeve tonight?"

Santana tossed her head back in a light chuckle. "You have no idea love. You have no idea." She responded as she lightly patted her pocket with her left hand without Rachel noticing.

Rachel gasped as they entered the cabin and she took in everything under the soft candle light. "This is beautiful Santana. This is what you have been doing while I was out with my dad all day?" Rachel paused in front of the fire place and slowly spun looking at everything.

"It is. I did actually paint you something" Santana pointed to a canvas sitting on an easel covered by a drop cloth next to the stairs. "But that comes later. First how about some dinner?" Santana motioned to the kitchen where the table was already set with the plates and the wine was chilling in an ice bucket.

"I would love some dinner. Can we put these in water first?" Rachel held up the bouquet of flowers, she didn't want them to die from being left out.

* * *

Dinner was going wonderfully. The women had put the flowers into a lovely vase that Santana had found and placed them on the kitchen island. Rachel actually wanted to set them on the kitchen table, but she didn't want to ruin the already lovely set center piece of candles. Rachel was thoroughly enjoying her dinner that Santana had went to so much trouble to make. It never ceased to amaze her just how wonderful of a cook Santana really was, there was nothing that she couldn't cook.

Rachel took a sip of her wine before asking the same question she had already asked at least three times. "When are you going to show me my painting? I can't wait to see what it is." Rachel bounced a little in her seat, she always loved when Santana took time out of her normal painting time to do something for her.

Santana chuckled as she wiped her mouth on a napkin before answering. "I told you I would paint you something magnificent. But you have to be patient, I will show you after we finish eating. Don't rush through dinner though, there's no need to run the risk of one of us choking. The painting isn't going anywhere." Truth be told Santana was struggling to keep from just ripping off the drop cloth in a typical magician fashion and yelling _ta da!_ Every time she told Rachel to be patient it felt like she was also telling herself.

The ring was still sitting quietly in her pants pocket ready to be brought at a moments notice. Everything was going great so far and there was no way that Santana was going to chuck all of her plans out of the window and ruin this evening. Which really would it be ruining it? She was excited to propose and a little nervous, maybe the sooner she asked the sooner she had an answer and she could start celebrating with Rachel, as long as Rachel said yes. What if she didn't say yes though? Santana couldn't imagine trying to pick her busted up heart off the floor tonight. Would Rachel saying no result in them breaking up? People could work through their significant other not being ready for marriage yet right? Why was she thinking so negatively, they had already started a baby discussion just a few days ago. What if a baby was all that Rachel really wanted? A marriage was just a piece of paper wasn't it? No a marriage was more than that. That piece of paper meant that instead of Rachel being her "wife" she was her wife in all terms of the word.

Rachel watched Santana have a bit of an internal struggle with herself. What was going on in that woman's mind? Whatever she was thinking about was apparently becoming painful to think about if the expression on Santana's face was any indication. Rachel slowly finished eating while keeping an eye on Santana. When her facial expression still hadn't changed much, Rachel slowly reached her hand out placing it on top of Santana's that was laying on the table.

"What's wrong honey?" Rachel asked when Santana finally looked up.

"Nothing, I got lost in my head for a minute. I was thinking if you are done eating I would like to show you the painting now." Santana smiled reassuringly at Rachel who was still watching her wearily.

"Okay, yeah. I am done eating." Rachel decided that just for the moment she would take Santana at her word and go along with Santana for now.

Santana cleared her throat and stood up, pulling a blind fold out of her pocket. "I need you to put this on first, there's a bit of a set up."

"Oo la la, are you going to leave me blind folded?" Rachel asked while she giggled as Santana slowly slid the blind fold over her eyes. She was trying really hard not to mess up Rachel's hair, it just looked so pretty tonight with partial curls that bounced across her shoulders.

"No, you can take it off in a minute. I want to talk to you first while I set this up." Santana moved around the kitchen table and walked towards the easel after turning Rachel's chair to face where she would be kneeling. "When I first met you, I felt a connection but I never knew it would lead to this. I got so nervous that first night you were here, every time I touched you it felt like little sparks shooting up my arm and it took my breath away. Then that first time I kissed you I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest. When I realized I was falling in love with you I thought it was too soon and then you returned my feelings and I worried you had some form of a hero complex for me. But then it all became real and here we are three years later, both with wonderful careers and an amazing life. I can't imagine my life without you now, you're my forever."

"Santana's what is happening?" Rachel felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest now. This wasn't just any normal showing of a painting, there was definitely something more going on here.

Instead of answering Rachel's question, Santana pulled the ring out of her pocket and got down on one knee in front of Rachel. "I love you beyond anything in this world and I want to ask you something really important. So when you're ready you can take the blind fold off."

Rachel slowly lifted the blind fold off of her face, she gasped when she saw Santana down on one knee kneeling in front of her. Santana was smiling with tears in her eyes as she motioned to the painting that had been sitting there all evening. A beautiful painting of a galaxy with Rachel's name and the question will you marry me written in traditional calligraphy letters. "Will you marry me Rachel Berry?"

Caught between laughing and crying all Rachel could do was nod her head. She should have known as soon as Santana started her speech that this was going to happen, however hindsight was twenty twenty. "Yes?" Santana asked just to be sure.

"Yes. I will marry you." Rachel sniffled out as she held her hand out for Santana to slide her ring on. They were both shaking to the point that Santana was struggling a bit to get the ring on.

Santana jumped up and grabbed Rachel out her chair as soon as she decided the ring was on far enough. Both were laughing as tears ran down their faces. Rachel couldn't get over just how perfect and beautiful her ring was. She thought about the ring for Santana that was in her purse. Should she do her own proposal or just go ahead and give Santana her ring. She would have to decided later because right now, she had a fiance' to celebrate with.

As Santana lowered Rachel back down out of the hug to stand on her own feet, she pulled Santana into a searing kiss that left her weak in the knees. Santana ran her hands up and down Rachel's back pulling her as close to her as she could. The attempt to not mess up Rachel's hair was long gone as her hands seemed to have minds of their own and made their way towards Rachel's glorious brown locks. "I love you so much." Santana whispered as she pulled back and rested her forehead against Rachel's.

"I love you too." Rachel responded before connecting her lips with Santana's once more. In this moment it felt like she couldn't get enough of Santana and she was more than happy to spend all night trying to get her fill. The phone call she wanted to make to her father would just have to wait until morning.


	18. Proposal Aftermath

The sunlight shining through the loft windows created the perfect natural spot light on Rachel's naked back. Really you would think Santana would learn to pull the blinds every night, but nope she didn't. Santana laid there staring a moment before she reached over and gently ran her fingers through the ends of Rachel's hair. It all still seemed surreal that she was officially engaged to the love of her life. It had a been long night in the best of ways and now today would probably be spent much like last night with the occasional break to call family and friends to inform them of the engagement and maybe eat some food. The sudden movement of Rachel shifting in her sleep caused Santana to still her hand for a moment, she didn't want to wake Rachel up yet. Deciding that she was going to try and fall back asleep for a while herself, Santana turned over wrapping an arm around Rachel's waist and pulled the woman closer. Having Rachel in her arms was something that Santana could never live without.

* * *

When Santana woke again it wasn't because of the sun it was because there was a warm weight that had settled on top of her. She blinked her eyes open to see Rachel laying there with her head propped up on Santana's chest. She grinned cutely when she saw that Santana had woken up. "Good morning." Rachel spoke softly as she shifted a bit and laid her head down on Santana's chest to stare up at the woman.

"Good morning to you." Santana reached out a hand and cupped Rachel's cheek. Rachel sighed happily as Santana began to run her thumb across Rachel's cheek.

"I really thought last night was a dream until I woke up again this morning." Rachel smiled as she brought her hand up to look at the ring that Santana had given her.

"I assure you everything was very much real." Santana was happy to stay in their little bubble of bliss for the moment. She was sure there were things that needed to be done by both her and Rachel but she couldn't find the energy to care at the moment.

"Can we stay like this all day?" Rachel sighed as she scooted farther up to lay more on Santana. The woman tried to suppress the moan that erupted from her throat. Rachel was naked and scooting against her; it felt more than magnificent.

"You can stay like that for as long as you want." Santana breathed out while dropping her head back against her pillow with a soft thud.

Rachel whom had realized what she was doing grinned devilishly. She began to move back and forth slowly grinding her center against Santana's. "What's wrong baby?" Rachel asked with an innocent smile on her face.

Santana had fallen into a ring of bliss. There was no way that Rachel was going to be receiving anything other than a few garbled noises accompanied with a moan and/or grunt. There was no doubt in her mind that Rachel knew exactly what she was doing. Santana felt Rachel start to slow down like she was waiting for an answer. "Don't you dare stop Rachel." Santana gritted out between her teeth.

"I don't plan on it baby." When Rachel started moving faster she pushed herself farther up in order to connect her lips with Santana's. Her arms were shaking from holding herself up and the impending orgasm that she was also bringing upon herself. "I love you so much Santana." Rachel was barely able to breathe out as she brought herself and Santana over the edge.

"I love you too." Santana murmured barely audible over her heavy breathing as she wrapped her arms around Rachel.

* * *

"Santana what do you think about this one?" Rachel held up the binder full of sample album covers that she was looking through. It was never too early to get an idea about what you wanted your cover art to look like even if they hadn't started recording yet. Santana was cooking lunch while Rachel sat at the kitchen island. They had finally drug themselves about of bed for a shower and some food about an hour ago, there was only so many orgasms a person could have before their body started chanting _no more, I need a break_.

Santana turned around from the couscous she was "fluffing" and stared at the picture for a moment before scrunching her face and shaking her head no.

Rachel sighed and laid the binder back down. "I am never going to pick one at this rate."

"Well technically you don't have to pick one, those are just to help you get ideas. That one you just held up is too loud for you style of music. I feel like it would be more appropriate on maybe some kind of techno album. It doesn't represent you or your album vision."

"I know...I just thought it was pretty." Rachel flipped over another page in the binder. "You know...why don't you just design my album cover." Her eyes were bright with hope and Santana could tell that she was super excited at the idea.

Santana paused in mixing the vegetables she had sauteed in with the couscous. It wasn't a horrible idea, but she had a few reservations about it. "Wouldn't I have to work for PF Productions to do something like that?"

"Nope. All of these are independent artists like you. You know Puck only uses independent artists and writers, he's all about working with people trying to get into the business in some way. This could be great. If this is the only way I can get you on my album then I will take it since you still won't sing with me." Rachel pouted and broke out her best puppy dog look. It was only a matter of time before Santana caved.

"How about I think about it? Like you said Puck likes to use people who are trying to get established, I wouldn't want to take away someones chance at that. I got lucky when I was in school that some people saw my work and I built a contact list from that. This, being on your cover could be someones only shot."

"We still have plenty of time, even if I pick something now it would be altered once we get a few songs recorded. The cover has to somehow represent the music and right now it's not representing anything."

Santana nodded her head as she continued to listen to Rachel speak. "When will you know when you can start recording?"

"Not for a while, the main writer comes from the internship. So we won't start recording until the end of summer."

Santana chuckled as she turned around with a plate for Rachel. "Then why are you worrying so much about this now?"

Rachel shut the binder and pushed it out of the way as Santana sat her plate down. "You know I like to be on top of things."

"There's no need to work so hard on it today. Today, whatever there was that we had to do, it's put on hold. We are just going to enjoy the day celebrating our engagement. If anyone needs us they have our numbers."

"We can just tell them when they call, besides my dad. I need to call him anyway."

"That sounds fair enough. I want to show you something I want to build." Santana hopped off the stool that she was sitting on and ran to a book shelf on the other side of the fire place. Rachel had no idea what she wanted to build, there was no telling really when it came to Santana, the woman could do anything that she put her mind to. When Santana came back into the kitchen the first thing Rachel noticed was that Santana was carrying a landscape magazine. Rachel narrowed her eyes at the book, Santana must have found something in there that gave her an idea, because the woman did any and all landscaping herself. Rachel was intrigued to say the least.

"Before I show you this, I just want to explain the why before we get into the when, where and how. So you know we have the little patio were we barbecue right off the side of the porch. We also have the big pond and the little pond out front but they aren't fit for swimming. So I propose we or I build this." Santana opened the magazine to a page in the back where she had found natural swimming pools.

Rachel was amazed at the beautiful picture that Santana had placed in front of her. Natural swimming pools were beautiful in their own right and they fit right up Santana's alley with things that could be sustained on their own. This was perfect, if they wanted to swim they always had to go to the lodge or they just swam when they went out of town and was at a hotel. "It's beautiful Santana, are you wanting to build it to look exactly like this one?"

"I don't know, I just want to build one and we can do on it on that side of the cabin." Santana pointed through the kitchen out into the living room indicating the right side of the cabin. There was tons of room over there since the area had been cleared out years ago. "I want to get started on it soon and I know I am going to need help, especially from someone who specializes in stuff like this. I want to move the patio over there too and make us a large area for barbecuing and suntanning."

"That all sounds amazing and we can start looking for people soon to help get going in the right direction." Santana just smiled and began eating again, this was going to be amazing when it was all said and done.

Rachel began to eat also, she couldn't help but think about all the big changes that was currently happening or about to happen in her life. She was getting married, her album would start production at the end of summer and Santana had decided that she was going to make life at the cabin better in some new way. Rachel thought about the ring that she had now carefully hidden away in her dresser. She knew she had to figure out a way to propose to Santana also, the woman deserved to have a ring too. There were so many ways that Rachel had wanted to propose but after yesterday and last night, she wasn't sure that any of them would equal what Santana had done for her. This wasn't a competition, she just wanted to make sure that Santana knew how much she was appreciated and loved by Rachel. She could always ask Quinn for help since she had knew Santana longer, but she wanted the idea to be all on her own. They could always have dinner and then Rachel could ask, but that was what Santana had done and she didn't want to do the same exact thing. Santana liked simple, maybe she was just thinking too far out of the box. Ahh, stop thinking so hard, you are going to give yourself a headache. Hopefully the idea would come to her soon. Rachel sighed and took another bite of her food as she glanced over at Santana who was looking at the pool again.

Sometimes it was a bit overwhelming just how much her life had changed in the past three years. Rachel now had honest friends, a lovely home, a beautiful, smart and just all around amazing fiancee, an amazing career, and two fur babies that she loved dearly. Her life was something that a lot of people only dreamed about having and there was no way that she was ever going to take that for granted. For now she was going to enjoy her engagement and try to figure out a way to make sure that Santana felt just as special as she did last night.

* * *

**I haven't done an author's note in a while now. I just want to say thank you all for reading, reviewing, following, favoriting and sticking with me to the engagement. We still have plenty of story left to go, obviously Rachel still has to plan her proposal, there's the movie premiere, an art show for Santana and some major other stuff. **


	19. Getting Ready

It was the night before Rachel's movie premiere when Santana received a call from Chief Sylvester. She was still out in LA and Santana wasn't sure what she was doing, but she had learned from past experience to not really question Sue and her motives. Turns out, Sue had decided to stay out there and personally accompany Conner back to prison herself. The judge was being super slow with the indictment since Conner was a wanted man in New York who now had charges against him in California. They still hadn't tracked down who had picked up the back pack out of the airport because the person was very aware of where all the security cameras were. After speaking to several witnesses that they were able to round up they only had a vague idea about who they were looking for. They needed to keep looking through as many security cameras as possible to try and find a clear picture, it was proving damn near impossible at this point. Santana sighed as she listened to Sue tell her everything they did or didn't know about Conner's motives at this point. Turns out his father had no idea he was coming, but he could very well be lying. Hopefully they would be able to crack Conner soon, Santana didn't have high hopes at the moment.

With the excitement of the engagement, the upcoming premiere, working with the writers and two new commissioned paintings, Santana and Rachel had both been super busy the rest of the weekend and up until now. Thankfully they had caught a break in order to get ready for the premiere, well to get Santana ready. Rachel had insisted that Kurt come by and help Santana pick something out to wear, which is who they were waiting on to come to the cabin right now. Despite all of her grumbling and fighting it, it was inevitable that Kurt would be dressing her for tomorrow. _I don't know why I need his help, I am more than capable of dressing myself_, Santana mumbled to herself.

"I know you can dress yourself, but Kurt has these lovely pants suits that will match my dress. They're perfect for your style. He also has some dresses that you can wear if you want to." Rachel smiled as she sat down on the couch next to Santana with a cup of tea.

Santana let her head fall back against the couch with a light thump. She hadn't realized that she had said anything out loud. She turned her head to look at Rachel and smiled as the woman reached out to brush a fallen piece of hair behind her ear. "When is Kurt supposed to be here again?"

Rachel glanced at the clock that was hanging on the wall. "Uhh, any minute now. He said he had a fitting this morning and he should be here around noon. It's ten til now, so yeah any time now."

Santana sighed as she nodded her head. "What do you think I should wear? I mean it is your movie premiere."

"I think you should wear which ever thing you feel most comfortable in. I know you like dresses and pants suits, I just want to match a bit." Rachel took a sip of her tea before sitting it down on the side table. "I know all of this stuff isn't your forte' and you only go because it means so much to me, but thank you for that."

Shifting were she was sitting, Santana stretched out on the couch and laid her head in Rachel's lap. "I would do anything for you." She whispered as she looked up at Rachel. Rachel leaned down and placed a kiss on Santana's forehead as she stroked her fingers through Santana's hair. As soon as Santana felt herself getting comfortable being lulled to sleep by the hand in her hair, there was a knock at the front door.

"That would be Kurt." Rachel tapped Santana on the shoulder so that she could get up to let Kurt in the cabin.

"Uggghhhhh." Santana groaned as she stood up to follow Rachel to the door. "I can't believe I am about to let Kurt dress me."

"He's done it before."

"Exactly and it's a headache every single time." Santana stood off to the side of Rachel with her arms crossed over her chest. She actually looked cute standing there pouting.

"Be nice baby please." Rachel chastised. Santana would make no promises about being nice, so instead of coming up with a rebuttal she simply nodded while refusing to look Rachel in the eye. Rachel knew she couldn't trust Santana to be nice but hopefully she would be at least a little pleasant when she seen what Kurt had picked out for her. Even though Santana remained stubborn in that she hated fittings, she always enjoyed finding new and stylish in things to wear.

* * *

Santana felt like she had been trying on things for hours now. As soon as Rachel had opened the cabin door she had been sucked into a whirlwind of different materials and sequins. Kurt had sauntered into the house with Blaine acting as his assistant for the day with several garment bags and two totes full of shoes. He had came more than prepared. The downstairs guest bedroom had turned into a fitting room and Blaine sat with Rachel on the couch as Santana was forced to show Rachel everything she tried on. It was like a fashion show from hell.

The last outfit Santana tried on, she really did like. It was jogger style black dress slacks paired with a white sheer button down and a slim fit suit jacket, she even had a little black bow tie. Kurt paired the outfit with a pair of beige high heels. Santana looked at herself in the floor length mirror, this was perfect for her and she looked hot. Now all she had to do was get Rachel's approval and hopefully she would be done with this whole ordeal.

Santana peaked her head out of the bedroom door and smiled at Rachel who was talking about something with Blaine. Whatever she was talking about really had her going because her hands were moving all over the place. Opening the door wider, Santana stepped out and cleared her throat gaining the attention of both Blaine and Rachel. Rachel stopped talking suddenly and stared at Santana with her mouth agape.

Rachel felt like her eyes were about to bug out of her head. Santana was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt about that but she looked down right amazing. It was questionable whether or not Rachel was still breathing at this point.

"Santana...you look amazing." Blaine spoke first having moved past his bit of a shocked expression. Rachel who still hadn't spoken nodded her head furiously agreeing.

Santana looked down at herself as she smoothed out the suit jacket. "Yeah, you really like it? It was either this or the dress that I kind of liked and this fits better. It's a perfect fit already, so it won't need any last minute alterations."

"That's perfect, absolutely perfect." Blaine clapped his hands together, successfully breaking Rachel out of her staring.

"Hot..so hot." Rachel breathed out quietly as her eyes trailed up Santana's body appreciating every curve of the woman. When her eyes finally connected with Santana's, there was a mischievous glint in them that Santana knew all too well. Kurt and Blaine were going to have to leave because Rachel was getting ready to pounce.

* * *

After quickly rushing Kurt and Blaine out the door with promises to speak clearly about the designer they were wearing at the premiere, Rachel did indeed pounce on Santana in the most glorious of ways. They just had to be super careful not to rip the outfit that Santana would be wearing. Kurt would murder them, bring them back to life and murder them again. Rachel who was sufficiently wore out was napping next to a very awake Santana. It was always hard for her to take naps during the day even if her body was spent, her mind was still going full steam ahead. Having talked to Sue that morning, Santana found herself wondering again about what connections Jasper might have to the Porter's. This was a good chance to see if she could find anything on the man, maybe she could find out who his uncle was.

Slowly climbing out of bed, Santana made her way upstairs to grab her laptop. She smirked to herself, her and Rachel didn't make it any farther than the guest bedroom. Oh well, it's not like the room was used for much, maybe one day it could be turned into a nursery. That would be pretty sweet, maybe paint the room a light green color and fill it with toys of all kinds for her future son or daughter to play with. She could definitely see a little brown headed brown eyed girl singing at the top of her lungs like her Momma and dancing away to some new song she had heard at dance class. Santana stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked into the kitchen, they could also have a little boy, one who liked to sit on the counter and help Santana make breakfast for his Momma and sister. He would love his Momma and sister dearly but be a Mami's boy through and through. She could see him swinging his tiny pajama covered feet against the cabinet doors as he casually dropped bits of food on the floor for Dax and Dahlia thinking his Mami didn't notice. It was a funny thing to imagine but it made her heart flutter and her chest fill with warmth.

It was possible that when ever they decided to have babies, her and Rachel could end up with twins. They did run in Santana's family. She thinks she could handle a set of twins, dress them in matching outfits until they were old enough to tell her to knock it off. Who knows what could happen, she just knew that she was definitely ready to be married to Rachel and start a family.

Santana was startled out of her thoughts when she felt two arms wrap around her waist. Going to get the laptop to look up Jasper would have to wait. She had gotten too lost in her thoughts and became side tracked. "Where did you go, I turned over and you weren't there." Rachel mumbled into Santana's back. She could actually feel Rachel pouting against her.

"I was going to go upstairs and get the laptop, but I got lost in my thoughts." Santana brought her hands down to rest on Rachel's that were resting on her stomach.

"What kind of thoughts?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Thoughts about us...our future and kids." Santana knew that she and Rachel had already started the baby talk once before but now that they were engaged it was much more serious.

"How many kids do you see us actually having?"

Santana sighed happily as she leaned back into Rachel's embrace. "Two. A girl and a boy or a set of twin boys would be nice."

"I like that sound of that. I don't want to have just one, we know what it's like to grow up as only children. It can be quite lonely sometimes. Do our future children have names yet?" Rachel asked as she stepped around in front of Santana before pressing a kiss to her lips.

"They do actually. Gertrude and Prudence." Santana kept her face as blank as possible, if she looked at Rachel she would crack and start laughing. Rachel took a step back and looked at Santana in horror. Those weren't bad names per say, they just didn't fit with the names that Rachel had thought about like Mariana or Gabriela, Samuel or Miguel.

Rachel felt a sigh of relief leave her body when she saw Santana's lip twitch. She knew there was no way that Santana was serious. "You're incorrigible Santana Lopez." Rachel huffed as she thumped her head against Santana's chest as her shoulders shook with laughter. "We are not naming our children those names, in this day and age that's just asking for them to be bullied in school." Santana just laughed as she hugged Rachel closer to her and shuffled them up the stairs, this whole time they had been standing in front of the stairs naked with sex crazed hair. The search for Jasper McNeal would have to wait just a little bit longer, she had future children to name with her fiancee at the moment.


	20. Road Trip

The morning of the premiere, everything felt like it was going in a frenzy. Quinn had already called three times to make sure that Rachel and Santana both were awake. Santana was a hair away from telling her to just eff off if she called again going on and on about how they better be on the road by six.

"Rachel, why in the hell did we not drive to the city last night?" Santana asked as she loaded up theirs and Dax and Dahlia's over night bags into the back of the jeep.

Rachel sighed as she walked around the back of the jeep, "I don't know but we should have left after Kurt was finished yesterday. It would have put us getting to the hotel late, but we would have been able to sleep in."

"You're damn right about that. Now we have to take Dax and Dahlia to Puck and Quinn's and drive all the way to the city and then get ready for tonight." Santana grumbled to herself. She understood that stuff like this was part of Rachel's career, at least tonight she got to go instead of Rachel being off in a different country for the world premiere and going with her co-star. Santana knew she was a jealous person some of the time and she would be worried about this stuff if she wasn't confident that Rachel was hers. She was even more confident now that Rachel had her ring on her finger.

"I know. I'm sorry, next time..." Rachel was cut off by her phone ringing. She glanced hesitantly at the number, of course it was Quinn. She really didn't need this stuff right now with Santana in a grumpy mood.

Santana stopped what she was doing and watched Rachel look down at her phone. There was no denying that look. Santana knew exactly who was on the other line. She huffed and breathed heavily out of her nose causing her nostrils to flare. "IF THAT'S QUINN I SWEAR ON ALL THAT IS HOLY I WILL SELL DAVIS ON THE BLACK MARKET IF SHE TELLS US TO HURRY UP AGAIN!"

Rachel snorted as she answered her phone. "Hi Quinn..." Santana turned and began stalking her way towards Rachel. "Oh..hi Beth. What are you doing up so early?...We're on our way to bring them to you...I'm positive they are going to love that." Santana stopped short as she realized that it was Beth that was calling instead of Quinn. Rachel gave Santana an evil eye, daring her to come closer. Spinning on her heel, Santana went back in the cabin to make sure that they weren't leaving anything before they officially hit the road. There was no way that she was going to get two or three hours into the trip and turn around realizing that they had forgotten something.

Rachel hung up the phone a moment later promising Beth and secretly Quinn that they were about to leave. She turned and walked to the back of the jeep were Santana was sitting on the tailgate pouting. "What's wrong?" Rachel asked as stepped in between Santana's legs. Santana didn't say anything she just wrapped her arms around Rachel and buried her head in Rachel's neck. Rachel chuckled a bit and ran her hands up and down Santana's back. "Do you need more coffee?" Santana didn't say anything, she just nodded. "We can stop and get some after we drop the dogs off okay?" Santana still didn't say anything, just nodded her head. "Did you go mute after yelling?" Another head nod. "Let's get going."

"Where's the check list?" Santana asked as she raised her head and looked at Rachel.

"What check list?" Rachel looked around and refused to meet Santana's eyes.

"Don't bull shit me, I know you made one. Everything in the cabin was already set for us to leave when I went back in."

Rachel sighed and pulled a folder piece of paper out of her jeans pocket. She looked a little sheepish. "First thing, dogs?" Dax and Dahlia barked like they were saying "present." "Dog's travel bag?" Santana grabbed the blue duffle bag with the paw print on it. Yes their dogs had their own travel bag, judge them if you must but they had to have their special toys, blankets and dog food. "Our over night bag?"

"It's right there and our garment bags with shoes are hanging right there." Rachel nodded and double checked her list.

"We don't need the glam case, the producers have hired hairstylists and make up artists that will come to us at the hotel at four. Soooo, that means that if we hurry you can have a nap before they show up."

"Let's get this damn show on the road then." Santana jumped up and shut the tailgate before practically running to dive into the front seat. The quicker she got to the city the quicker she could take that nap because it was going to be a long night.

* * *

After dropping Dax and Dahlia off to Beth and Puck and picking up Quinn and her luggage they finally were on the road. Rachel had spent the first hour of the trip practically funneling good mood pick me ups into Santana. Now the woman was in a better mood which everyone was thankful for.

"We still have four hours before we hit the city." Santana mumbled as they passed a mile marker sign.

"We would probably already be there if you two didn't insist on driving and let the producers buy airplane tickets." Quinn shook her head as she watched the scenery go by outside the window.

"Quinn, you know the city is crawling a live with people on a good day, throw in all the chaos of the movie premiere and it's just an organized mess." Rachel turned in her seat to look at Quinn.

"That's even more of a reason to take a plane!"

"Hey, I will leave you on the side of the road." Santana sneered as she glanced at Quinn in the rear view mirror.

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. Really, these two were adults and knew how to be completely professional but yet they fought and bickered most of the time like two children. "We didn't fly because you know we like road trips and no matter how much Santana continues to complain, she could drive across the country and love every minute of it."

"I would love it even more if Quinn wasn't with us." Santana spoke under her breath.

"I heard that!"

"You two stop right now or I am going to take over driving and I don't want to hear a peep out of either of you. Both of you are grown women and you keep acting like this. I really don't know how in the hell you two have stayed friends for so long. It blows my mind sometimes." Rachel gave each woman a pointed look before she settled back into her seat, she dared either of them to say anything rude or snarky for the next four hours. She would leave them both on the side of the road if she had to.

* * *

Two more hours of the trip had passed before Quinn and Santana had started bickering again. Rachel was so close to pulling her hair out. Quinn had to pee, Davis must have decided that today he was going to use his mothers bladder as a trampoline and Santana apparently wasn't searching hard enough for a rest stop.

"Remind me to never travel with you two again." Rachel murmured as she ran her hands through her hair, pulling it up into a messy bun.

"It's not my fault preggers back there has to go and there are literally no rest stops for another ten miles at least."

"Santana, it's not anybody's fault. Well except Davis'." Rachel glanced over at the GPS. "Five miles Quinn, you still okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just...Santana can't you drive any faster?" Quinn's knees started bouncing.

"No, if I go any faster I am going to get another lecture about obeying the law." Santana rolled her eyes while smirking. Rachel had lectured her earlier because she was going a little too fast. A little being only ten miles over the speed limit...on the interstate.

"The speed limit is not a suggestion, Santana." Now it was Rachel's turn to roll her eyes.

Santana started to slow down noticing that their exit was coming up. She would never admit that she too had to pee and that she could do with some food and stretching her legs. Really despite her and Quinn going back and forth with each other she was excited to be going to the city for once. Rachel had worked super hard on this movie and all the time and effort that she had put in was going to be acknowledged and praised. Santana really couldn't be happier for Rachel. Also tonight, it would most likely be announced that they were engaged, Rachel was wearing her ring proudly and Quinn had told them that if they wanted to, they could go ahead and announce it.

"Oh thank gosh." Quinn practically jumped out of the jeep when it came to a stop. Rachel and Santana just shook their heads as they watched the woman burst through the doors of the rest stop.

* * *

When they finally made it to the hotel it was half past noon, they really had made good time. Santana was carrying her and Rachel's bags to their rooms when Rachel noticed that Santana was literally swaying with exhaustion. Something was going on, Santana had slept the same amount of time that she had last night but add in the fact that Santana insisted on driving the whole way here by herself, she still shouldn't be _that_ tired.

Rachel waited in the hallway for Quinn as Santana opened the door and went into the room. She sat their over night bag down and hung up their garment bags in the bedroom portion of the suite before she flopped down on the king sized bed. "Awww, yeah. This bed is so soft." Santana whispered to herself. She was so tired and her arms and legs felt like they had lead weights strapped to them.

"Rachel, do you want to get food or let grumpy gills nap first?" Quinn asked as she stepped off the elevator and made her way towards Rachel heading into her room next door to Rachel and Santana.

Rachel opened her mouth to respond but closed it when she figured she probably should ask Santana first what she wanted to do. Holding up a finger for Quinn to wait a minute, Rachel stepped into the room. Her ears were met with the sound of Santana's soft snoring. Never mention to Santana that she snores sometimes...mostly when she was getting...sick. Oh. No. Rachel backed out of the room quietly so that she didn't disturb Santana. Quinn was now waiting outside of the door with just her purse.

"I think we should let Santana sleep for now, there's a possibility she's getting sick. I'm going to stay with her and hope she doesn't feel like crap when she wakes up."

Quinn grimaced and stuck her head in the door to look at Santana's sleeping frame. "Yeah, let her sleep. I am going to make some phone calls, let people know we're here and stuff. I will catch back up with you in a bit." Rachel nodded and headed back into the room to lay down next to Santana, hopefully they would make it through the evening without any problems.

* * *

**Back In McKinley**

_"What in the hell were you thinking Jasper?"_ A deep voice asked through the phone that Jasper was holding out from his ear. His uncle really had a loud voice when he was pissed.

"I wasn't thinking." Jasper knew he had messed up. He was just lucky that Rachel hadn't gotten him kicked off the internship.

_"You're damn right you weren't thinking. I swear if you mess up again I will come and get you myself. The police are still questioning me since Conner screwed up. Listen, you keep playing the game and when you go out of your way to follow any of them, you keep your distance. Do you understand me?"_

"I understand sir." And with that the phone call disconnected. Jasper breathed a sigh of relief at being off the phone, at least this time his berating was quick. It still stung though. He began pacing throughout his apartment, Santana and Rachel should be in the city by now and Leroy was out with Bayani. He really needed to get to the city but there was no way he would make it tonight. With Puck at home with his daughter, Sam had taken over and was teaching them more about how the studios here were ran. There was no leaving at this point, the internship was the one thing that kept him here and he couldn't risk it again.

* * *

**So I assume you have an idea as to who the uncle is now. :P What kind of game are these men playing, hmmm?**

**Also, I was going to mention it on the last chapter but it slipped my mind. The review about the cabin made me really happy. Santana can't build it, but I can design it since it's one of two designs I already have drew up for my future cabin. The other design shifts everything one wall to the right. Instead of facing the fireplace when you walk in, it's directly to the right. The loft, kitchen and bathroom is where the fireplace used to be. So you look straight ahead into the kitchen or you look up into the loft instead of looking to the left like in Santana and Rachel's cabin.**

**I feel like Chapter 20 is a small milestone that I am happy to celebrate. Thank you for all the reviews, views, favorites and follows. It makes me so happy that people are sticking with me throughout this story. It's definitely going to be a long one. **


	21. Let's Go To The Movies

When Santana woke from her nap she felt slightly better, but for some reason her arms and legs still felt heavy. Rachel was in the process of ordering them food. She smiled as she watched Santana search around the room for her, grinning even brighter when their eyes met. When she hung up the phone with room service, Rachel made her way over to the bed to stretch out beside Santana.

"Hi sleepy head." Rachel ran her fingers through Santana's bed head. Thankfully they still had plenty of time before the makeup artist and hair stylist was to arrive.

Santana responded with a small hi as she closed her eyes once again, enjoying the feeling of having her hair played with. "What time is it and what did you order?"

Rachel looked over Santana's shoulder at the clock on the bedside table. "It's only ten til two and I ordered spicy tortellini and sausage soup for you and chicken tortellini soup for myself." Rachel would never admit that she ordered the very specific soup for Santana to try and halt whatever onset sickness that was in the works.

"With bread sticks?" Santana opened one eye to look at Rachel.

"Of course." Rachel responded as she rolled her eyes. She would never understand Santana's fascination with bread sticks.

"Yayyyy." Santana whispered as she started to doze off again.

"Hey no. Don't go back to sleep, we need to eat and then start getting ready okay?"

Santana didn't respond, she remained quiet and simply nodded her head.

* * *

When they pulled up in front of the theater, Rachel could barely contain her excitement. This wasn't the first premiere that she had went to, but it was the first premiere of being a newly engaged woman. She was thankful that when she had officially came out that her career hadn't suffered. It felt like everyone in the business had welcomed her and by extension Santana with open arms. It was amazing the leaps and bounds that society had made as a whole.

Santana glanced around of the dark tinted windows. Her love hate relationship that came along with fame was moving in in full force. She loved that all of these people were here to see Rachel and her co-stars but she hated the really invasive people. There are certain lines that you just don't cross and some of these reporters go so far across the lines that they can't even see them anymore. They had decided that if one of the reporters noticed the ring and asked they would tell, but other than that for now they were staying tight lipped. That was as personal as they planned to get tonight, the main focus was supposed to be the movie any way.

Rachel had started to bounce in her seat. This movie was so much fun to work on, the crew and the other stars had been amazing throughout the entire filming. They were three cars away from the red carpet when the marquee came into view.

"Do you see it Santana?" Rachel asked as she pointed towards the front of the theater.

Santana strained her neck to try and see the marquee. "I see it baby."

Rachel squealed and clapped her hands together, yes she had been on Broadway,released an EP and been to other premieres, but seeing her name in lights would never get old. This was honestly one of her favorite projects. The movie titled _Race To Broadway _is about a group of friends who go to New York together and they deal with the ups and downs of life while seeing who can make it to Broadway first. Rachel's character gets side tracked and ends up falling in love, but in the end they all somehow end up working on the same show. It was a way for Rachel to be back on a stage without actually being on a legit stage. Despite the story line being a little cliche' and off the beaten path, the movie was doing really well so far, which was amazing for everyone involved.

* * *

Santana and Rachel both felt like they had been waiting in the car for hours. Quinn had came down earlier and was waiting for them at the end of the carpet. Really, how in the hell did so many people fit into a fancy town car? They would be considered clown cars if this were a circus.

Finally it was their turn, Sander their driver pulled up and smiled as they exited the vehicle. Rachel came out first followed by Santana who was trying her best not to scowl. It would be rude to wear sunglasses to one of these things, but damn those lights were bright. As soon as Santana's feet hit the pavement, she started her don't trip mantra in her head. She was always so self conscious during this stuff, making a fool out of herself or Rachel wasn't in the books. Quinn looked a little over excited because she kept making smiling gestures at Santana. Santana responded with a 'WTF' look and went about her business of being led down the carpet with Rachel.

_Over here! Gorgeous!_

_Now look here Rachel!_

Rachel pulled Santana closer as they slowly made their way past the majority of the reporters there for pictures only. The interview people were next and then some fans were waiting behind fencing before they reached the theater doors. What should have technically only taken fifteen minutes at the most, was about to take nearly an hour. Santana just knew it. Heaving a sigh that she hoped no one noticed, she smiled and stepped out of the way so that Rachel could have pictures done by herself. It was her movie after all.

_Ms. Berry can we ask who you and Ms. Lopez are wearing tonight?_

"We are both wearing Hummel Designs. Kurt Hummel personally picked out both outfits." Rachel took a step back and did a perfect over the shoulder smile before grabbing Santana and sending her on a little twirl to show off her outfit.

_How excited are you to be here tonight?_

"Very excited. Everyone worked so hard on this film. Carl is an amazing actor to work with as was everyone involved in the lead cast."

_Word has made it down the line that you are wearing a certain ring on a specific finger tonight, any reason for that or is it just well placed jewelry?_

Santana chuckled underneath her breath. It was impossible not to notice the ring, considering anyone that knew Rachel knew she very rarely wore jewelry even to events like this. Reporters literally couldn't stay on one topic or another because they all wanted to reveal the big news first. Big news first usually meant a lovely big bonus. Rachel looked up at Santana, silently asking if she should say anything. Santana didn't mind this was Rachel's ball game at the moment. She nodded, if Rachel was okay with it then she was too.

"It is well placed jewelry but for a good reason. Me and Santana are officially engaged. She proposed this past weekend." Rachel purposely held up her hand so that the reporter could look for herself while the camera man zoomed in on his camera. He wanted the best shot possible.

After being asked a few more questions about the movie and if there was a wedding date set yet, Rachel and Santana finished making their way down the carpet. Santana was pleasantly surprised when several fans not only asked for Rachel's autograph but hers as well. Some even had old gallery books from her previous shows that they wanted her to sign. It was overwhelming in the best way possible.

The women were almost home free into the theater when Quinn came up to them and pulled Rachel back to the carpet to do an interview or two with Carl. Santana sighed and held her tongue, she knew this was all PR. Carl had a lovely wife and a son who he was more than dedicated to. In fact they both were there with him tonight. Like Rachel he knew how to keep his personal life and work life separate. They had great chemistry on the big screen but that was it and that was all it would ever be. They had sort of a brother and sister bond, which Rachel adored because she had never been able to have any form of sibling bond. Even though their relationship was completely platonic, it still didn't stop that tiny spark of jealousy that occurred when Santana had seen the movie preview. Hopefully she wouldn't leap across the seats to strangle Carl when she had to watch him touch her woman in the theater tonight.

* * *

Two hours. Two hours was all it took for Santana to feel like her body was trying to kill her. Sure she had felt a little off and still weighted down when they arrived but now she was practically a walking zombie. Rachel looked on worried as they exited the theater and signed a few more autographs for some fans who had hung around. Most of the reporters were gone since they had gotten what they needed before the movie. Rachel kept her hand on Santana's back, ready to try and catch her if she were to start to fall. She would go down with her but it would be worth it.

"Honey are you okay?" Rachel asked as she noticed Santana start to turn a lovely shade of pale green. Santana nodded her head slowly. Even that made her brain feel like it was going to explode.

"I have a migraine the size of Texas." Santana mumbled as she smiled and sign someone's autograph book.

"Let's get you back to the hotel so you can rest."

Santana turned around looking horrified. "What no. We can't do that, you have several after party invitations, there will be other directors and producers there. These parties could hold major opportunities for you. They all seen how amazing of an actor you are, they're going to be begging Quinn for available dates in your schedule for auditions." Santana gestured wildly with her hands.

Rachel bit her lip in thought, Santana was right, these parties could open even more doors for her. When it came down to it though, Santana was a priority, movie offers come and go. That's just the way the business works, it would be nice to possibly land an audition or two. She studied Santana's face, the woman was looking more worse as each minute passed by. There was no way she was going to leave her.

"You're getting sick. I am taking you to the hotel and we are going to get you some medicine and rest."

Santana huffed and oh boy was that a bad decision. Her head throbbed as her stomach turned. Don't vomit in public, don't vomit, don't vomit on Rachel, DO NOT VOMIT! "I am not sick, I just have a bad headache. You go get in the car with Quinn and I will go back to the hotel and take some aspirin and lay down. Please Rachel, I know how much all of this means to you. If you don't go I am going to feel guilty because you were with me."

"Yeah, but if I go, I am going to feel guilty for leaving you." Rachel drug the toe of her shoe in a circle against the ground. Kurt would murder her if these shoes came back scuffed because of that. Oh well, she had more important matters at the moment.

"How about you go for an hour? That's plenty of time to mingle with the importants, because you know Quinn already has all of them pegged. I'll take some aspirin, run a bath and wait on you."

Rachel looked like she was about ready to protest again but Quinn came over asking if they were ready to go. Santana explained that all the excitement tonight had given her a migraine and that she was going back to the hotel. Quinn accepted the situation for what it was, when Santana didn't want to do something she wasn't going to do it and there was no making her. Unless of course you were a pouting Rachel or Beth but that was a different story.

"One hour. I will see you in hour." Rachel hugged Santana tightly and gave her a kiss even though she knew the risk of getting sick herself.

"You were amazing tonight and I swear as soon as I kick this migraine I will show you how amazing you were." Santana gave Rachel a smoldering kiss that was a promise of things to come before they went their separate ways for a while.

Rachel walked Santana to the car that would take her back to the hotel. "I love you. Go straight to the room and rest."

"Yes mom." Santana smirked at Rachel before she climbed into the car. "I love you too by the way." Rachel blew her a kiss before she rejoined Quinn.

"You're not staying the whole hour are you?" Quinn asked nonchalantly as they made their way back to the car waiting for them.

"Nope. I have a fiancee that I need to take care of." Rachel gave Quinn a beaming smile before she climbed into the back of the town car.


	22. Sickness, Babies and Almost Wedding Date

Jasper paced around the conference room where he was waiting for Puck and the other guys to come in. They were having their weekly "let's see where everyone is at and what else can we work on," meeting. There was no doubt in his mind that he was about to be called out for not being focused the past two days. He was making mistakes on things that he knew how to do before he even got this internship. If he was kicked off of this internship, he would never hear the end of it.

He jumped when the door finally opened and Puck walked in followed by Joe, Brock, Sam and...Quinn. When did Quinn get back? If she was back did that mean that Rachel and Santana were back as well? This was great! He could now get back to keeping tabs on the women and his uncle wouldn't kill him. Jasper sat down in his chair with a new found giddiness.

"Alright boys and lady." Puck winked at Quinn. "Let's get started shall we?" Puck clasped his hands together and looked at everyone sitting around the table waiting for them to acknowledge they were listening to him. "I know Rachel isn't here today, which technically she doesn't have to be. But I know she likes to keep up with where you guys are at, so Quinn is sitting in for her." Jasper jerked in his chair. Dammit, Dammit, Dammit! Where in the hell was Rachel?! Puck looked at him warily, "You okay there Jasper?"

Jasper nodded and rubbed his knee under the table. "Yeah, I just leaned back to far. Hit my knee. I'm fine. Uh, you said Quinn was sitting in for Rachel? Where is she?"

Quinn raised her eyebrow at Jasper. This guy could really turn on the weird vibes when he wanted to. "Rachel doesn't have to report where she is to you."

Jasper began to stutter. "I know that. It's just she doesn't miss work on purpose and we uh, we've become sort of friends while working together..so I was just worried."

Puck began to chuckle while leaning back in his seat. "I think someone has a bit of a crush on Rachel." Jasper didn't respond, he just turned his head trying to hide his blush. Yes, he was here to keep tabs on Rachel but you couldn't deny that she was a beautiful woman.

"Don't let Santana hear that, she will verbally...maybe even physically beat you down." Quinn's eyes danced with amusement. "Anyway, they're still in the city. Santana is sick and in no physical condition to make the trip back yet."

Puck grimaced. "She must really be down and out for her to willingly stay in the city."

"Pffftt, Santana stay willingly? Yeah, right. She's tried to fight Rachel about staying, but when you can barely move without vomiting, well you don't get much say." Quinn and Rachel had both threatened to tie Santana down if she didn't stop trying to move around the room packing their bags insisting that they go home. After almost vomiting inside their duffle bag and the threat of going to the hospital, Santana finally agreed that she and Rachel would stay in the city until she was well enough to make the trip home.

"We've got business to take care of here, while Rachel takes care of personal business. So that's that. Now we need to discuss where we are on everything from writing, composition, production all of that stuff." Puck waited for everyone to open their notes so that they could get started.

* * *

"Santana honey please stay in bed. I know you're sick and tired of being...well sick and tired but you need rest and you need to try and drink something. You're going to get dehydrated and then I will have no choice but to take you to the hospital and I will have to call an ambulance and do you really want that plastered all over the magazines? They will say everything in under the sun is wrong with you." Rachel was wore out, for the past half an hour Santana had been trying to get out of bed which would be okay if she had to use the bathroom, but Rachel knew she didn't and if she had to vomit she had a bucket just for that. Rachel had even taken the position of leaning over Santana with her right arm braced against the bed so Santana would feel less inclined to move about.

"I just want to go home and sleep in our bed with our babies. Rachel please." Santana whined. Her forehead was sticky with sweat from where her fever had broken only a few minutes ago. Rachel was going to have to run a bath for her soon, but she needed to get some fluids back into Santana first, between the vomiting and sweating she had to be dehydrated.

It pained Rachel to see Santana like this, she has never ever been this sick before. Her normally lovely tan skin was pale and her natural glow was severely dull. At first Rachel had just thought that Santana was getting a summer cold, something minor that would pass fairly quickly. But when Rachel had returned from visiting an after party or two with Quinn, she had came into the suite to find Santana sound asleep on the bed still in her dress clothes. As soon as Rachel tried to move her she had jolted from the bed and ran into the bathroom where she began to vomit. Figuring it was the migraine that caused the vomiting, Rachel got Santana to take some aspirin and change clothes where she then laid back down with a cool wash cloth.

That night was pretty uneventful, until morning came around and Santana had proceeded to vomit in spells all day. Now it was Friday morning and Santana was still extremely sick. She hadn't vomited in a few hours now which was great but she was weak and dehydrated and the next stop would not be home, but to the hospital.

"I will make you a deal. If you can keep this Pedialyte and some crackers down then we can discuss going home in the morning." Rachel knew this was a rough bargain to try and deal but she had to do something.

"That stuff is for babies." Santana mumbled with her eyes closed.

"Yes well it's generally marketed for children, but no where does it say adults can't drink it. It will hydrate you and hopefully settle your stomach. So here, sip on it." Rachel held out a glass filled with cold Pedialyte. Hopefully this would work, she had read on the internet that some adults had even taken to using the stuff for hangovers.

"Okay. Then we can go home?" Santana sat up slightly and Rachel moved back to allow her some room.

"Yes, if you can keep it down and your fever doesn't come back, we can try and go home in the morning."

"Thank you. I love you." Santana took a long sip of the Pedialyte and slightly grimaced. Yeah, that didn't taste as good as kids liked to let on.

Rachel watched her warily, ready to grab the bucket when she saw Santana grimace. "Is it going to come back up already?"

"No, it just doesn't taste as good as people think." Santana scrunched her nose as she settled back down into her mountain of pillows before releasing a jaw cracking yawn. "Don't worry, you will know if it comes back up."

"Yeah, I am well aware." Rachel scooted back on the bed away from Santana a bit. She didn't want to be in the line of projectile should the drink make it's presence known.

* * *

"One last thing before we all part for lunch." Sam made himself known before everyone could gather their things and head out. "You know I work with each of you individually and really you're all doing great. But I just want to make sure that all three of you are still as focused today as you were when you got this internship." Sam looked at each intern pointedly as to not single anyone out. "I know it's easy to get set into a routine and you start slacking or cutting corners, but in order to produce great sounding music there is no cutting corners here. You're going to make mistakes and that's okay, you're here to learn but don't go into my studio and make mistakes on things I know you know. There's no room for errors that tiny. Just everyone get refocused because we do have work to do." Puck sat there grinning at Sam, for once it wasn't him that was telling off an intern.

Quinn was a little taken aback, she knew that Sam had a back bone and was willing to tell someone when they were screwing up but she had never seen him that heated before. By looking at the faces of all three interns, it was kind of obvious as to who Sam was talking about, but Quinn was sure she was the only who really noticed.

Jasper McNeal, the quiet awkward intern with a creepy smile. Yes, even she had noticed it before Santana and Rachel mentioned it to her on the trip to the city. She knew all of his basic information, his background check had came back clean but she still felt like he was hiding something or just harboring major crush feelings for Rachel. If Quinn done any more personal digging she would probably be crossing into illegal stuff and she didn't want to be put in that position or risk the company like that. She would just have to continue to keep an eye on Jasper and make sure he was focused on his work and not entirely on Rachel.

* * *

"Rachel...look at her. Isn't she beautiful?" Santana mumbled in her sleep. Rachel was caught off guard in the quiet of the hotel suite. What was Santana mumbling about? "She looks just like you." Santana sighed happily in her sleep.

"Who looks like me?" Rachel spoke to herself as she made her way across the living room area and into the partially open door of the bedroom. Santana was definitely still asleep, but what in the hell was she dreaming about?

"She has your eyes. You have your mama's eyes Alexandra." Santana mumbled again barely audible. She was snuggling one of those mini-pillows made for added neck support and gently moving her thumb back and forth across it.

Rachel awed quietly not wanting to wake Santana. She was dreaming about babies, one particular little girl baby in fact. Unable to contain herself, Rachel crawled onto the bed beside Santana, keeping as much distance as possible in between them. Where was a germs mask when you needed one? Hmm, Rachel had idea, she wondered if she could get Santana to respond to her in her sleep. "She does have my eyes, doesn't she."

"I just told you that. Where's my sandwich?"

"What sandwich?" Rachel tried to contain her giggles.

"I ordered a sandwich for fishing. It's going to be great." Okay, well Rachel had no idea what had happened in that dream but she wanted to get back to the baby.

"Where's Alexandra's sandwich?"

Nothing. It was like someone has pressed paused on Santana's dream or she was waking up. Rachel watched as Santana did indeed begin to stir awake and blink dazed at her. "What are you doing on the bed? You're going to get sick. Who is Alexandra?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and laughed. "You were talking about a baby girl named Alexandra and then you needed your sandwich to take fishing."

Santana rubbed at her eyes as she rolled over onto her back. "I have no idea about the sandwich, but I think I would like to eat one. I remember a bit of the baby though, she looked just like you. I could never forget your eyes."

"You're really into this baby thing if you are having dreams about them." Rachel reached out to brush some hair out of Santana's face.

"I want to marry you first and then have a baby." Rachel nodded but didn't say anything, she still had Santana's ring that she was yet to figure out how to give to the woman.

"Have you thought about when you wanted to get married?" Rachel had actually thought about it a lot. She would start recording her album at the end of summer so it would either be before or after that.

"How about a winter wonderland wedding since that's kind of our season?" Santana suggested lightly. "We could do it on your Christmas break." Christmas break at PF Productions was exactly what it sounded like. Quinn and Puck both were super into the holiday and all of their employees got a huge Christmas bonus with paid leave for their Christmas break. No matter how busy they got during the year, around Christmas, PF Productions closed for two weeks.

Rachel bit her lip as she thought it over, she could definitely see them having a winter wonderland wedding. It was actually perfect. "We need to pick a day when Puck let's us know when the break starts."

"We can worry about that later. Right now, I really would like something to eat that's more filling than broth and crackers. I am so ready to go home in the morning." Santana sat up in the bed and reached for the room service menu. She was definitely moving better and less sluggish. Maybe the idea of going home kicked her immune system into over drive.


	23. Finally Going Home

Conner Porter lay stretched out on his cot in the Los Angeles County Jail, he was so ready to head back to New York. At least there he had his own cell and he didn't have to assert his authority every time some one new came in. He enjoyed being on his own and having yard time, this was supposed to be his chance to get out from underneath his brother's thumbs. But look were he was, right back were all of his problems started. The police here and that one chief from New York kept asking him questions like he knew everything that was going on.

Honestly, everything that he had told them thus far was completely true. He had received letters and kites from his brothers who had been sending letters to Ronald Adkins at the hospital. When the time was right he was to swallow some nuts or little screws that he could find and go to the hospital were the doctor was waiting for him. After Ronald got him out of the hospital he had to go get the back pack from his apartment and then make his way to the airport. He didn't even know what was in it, his plane ticket had been in the front pocket and the back pack had been cleared through security. When he got off the plane, he was to drop the back pack in the airport and the rest would take care of itself. Conner really had no idea who was supposed to pick up the back pack. He just assumed it was another person that had somehow got tied into this whole mess. He really had intentions of going to see his dad but that stupid taxi driver had to stop and now Conner was here. At least he had came with them willingly, maybe getting arrested would cut communication off from everyone around him. So far it wasn't working.

There was no doubt in his mind that as soon as he was indicted back to New York he would be going into solitary confinement. No visits, no mail, one hour of yard or exercise room time and a five minute shower. Some people can't handle being alone like that, but Conner welcomed the solitude. Now he just had to say the right things to get back to New York. He wanted to be done with this whole mess, but when your family was determined to destroy another man's family what were you to do when you weren't a nark?

* * *

"Santana are you ready to go? Do you have everything?" Rachel asked as she whisked around Santana's hospital room making sure that she had grabbed everything that they had brought with them. Obviously they had ended up in the hospital Friday night. Santana had felt well enough to eat a half a sandwich and some wheat thins but sadly it didn't stay down long. After her second round of Pedialyte had came back up, Rachel made the decision that Santana was going to the hospital whether she wanted to or not.

Three hours in the ER waiting room was enough to send Santana almost walking or really crawling out of the door, no one had even looked their way yet. When the doctor had finally showed up, Santana was admitted and started on IV's right away. She was severely dehydrated and everything they gave her to sip on came right back up. It wasn't until they gave her a dose of Emetrol that things began to settle. After sleeping through breakfast Saturday morning, lunch had went well and dinner had went even better. Now it was Sunday morning and Santana had successfully kept her breakfast down and had definitely regained some of her energy. She still wasn't driving back home though. That was an easy win for Rachel since Santana didn't want to risk possibly vomiting in her jeep. She hadn't vomited since about five Saturday morning, but her body was still weak and even if she wasn't nauseous anymore, her stomach ached from the throwing up.

"Uh, yeah I got everything. I need help though." Santana glanced around her position on the bed. It felt so good to finally be out of that hospital gown and into something at least semi-normal even if it was joggers and a baggy t-shirt. They were leaving with way more clothes than they had brought with them. Rachel had had to go out on a mini-shopping spree considering their one night stay in the city had turned into four. There was no way that Santana was going to be putting on jeans today or tomorrow for that matter and she only liked fancy dresses so traveling in one was a no go.

Rachel looked up from the duffle bag that was zipping. "What do you need help with babe?"

"My socks." Santana mumbled. Really she wasn't trying to act like a child, it was just her stomach hadn't hurt this bad since she had broken her ribs.

"What happened to the other ones that the hospital gave you?" Rachel asked as she stepped around the bed to help her overgrown child of a fiancee.

"They have those treads on them and they were too big." Santana whined, she was recovering from a serious case of the stomach flu or food poisoning, there was no need to be mean. She had failed to tell everyone that she had ate a vending machine pita pocket at the rest stop. It was a momentary laps in judgement and she didn't need everyone mocking her for it.

"Can you handle your shoes or do I need to put them on for you too?" Rachel asked innocently as she reached for one of Santana's sneakers.

"I can do it, they just slip on anyway."

"Because you refuse to tie them properly." Rachel spoke to herself under her breath, or so she thought.

"They look cooler this way!" Santana stuck both of her feet up in the air as if that was going to prove her point.

Rachel grabbed the duffle bag and rolled her eyes. Considering Santana refused a wheelchair, Rachel walked over and looped one arm under Santana's to help her into a standing position. She paused to make sure Santana wasn't going to you know hit the floor or something before they made their way to room door.

"Do you think I would make a cool hip hop dancer?" Santana asked as she looked down at her outfit.

"What kind of question is that?" Rachel asked confused. Was Santana thinking of switching careers all of a sudden or something?

"This is what dancers wear most of the time. I know Mike does at least."

"Baby, you would make a great hip hop dancer. Don't go hip hopping anything right now though, you need to save your energy." Rachel chuckled to herself, sometime she had jokes.

"I don't plan on it. Let's go home and get our fur babies. I'm sure Puck and Quinn are ready to give them away by now." Santana chuckled at the thought of Quinn ready to pull her hair out. Then she grimaced because ow, that really did hurt.

* * *

When Rachel and Santana pulled up outside of Puck and Quinn's cabin it was roughly half past seven. They had called and let them know that they were on their way and Rachel would run in and grab the fur babies. There was no reason to get Santana out of the car and then wait for her to struggle to get back in when they were so close to home.

"I will be right back, they might all come out and see you though, so please be nice." Rachel pouted as she looked at Santana with earnest eyes. She was tired and she didn't need her and Quinn to start bickering over probably nothing.

"I swear I will behave, I don't have any fight in me tonight." Santana smiled honestly.

Before Rachel could get out of the car, Quinn came out of the cabin as fast as a five month pregnant woman could go. She smiled at Rachel and told her that Beth was gathering the rest of the dogs things and that Puck was wrapping up some dinner for them. Santana rolled down her window as Quinn got closer.

"How are you feeling?" Quinn asked as she came to a stop at least an arms length away from the window. She wasn't going to risk getting sick.

"I'm feeling a hundred percent better, but I still have to take it easy for a few days." Santana rested her chin on her fist that was propped up on the window seal. She noticed some papers sticking out from behind Quinn's arm where it was resting around her stomach. Santana furrowed her eyebrows. "What's that?" She nodded towards the papers in Quinn's hand.

Quinn flexed her hand scrunching up the papers. So maybe she had looked up Jasper's family tree, it technically wasn't illegal. She glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that no one was coming out yet. "I figured out exactly who Jasper McNeal is related to and why he seems a bit sketchy."

Santana's eyes began to bulge. "Who is it? I was going to do that but I hadn't found a good portion of alone time yet."

"Charles Porter is his uncle." Quinn stepped forward a bit to hand the papers to Santana so that she could see for herself.

"Does anyone else know about this?" Santana asked as she looked around Quinn's shoulder and saw Rachel coming out followed by Beth and Puck. She quickly folded the pieces of paper and tucked them down into her pocket.

"Of course not. I was going to call Sue, but she can't do anything while in California. We're going to be keeping a closer eye on him. It could be a coincidence and then again it might not be."

"This is not a coincidence Quinn. He was sent here by Charles or Marcus or any of them. He's planning something. I know he is involved somehow." Santana gritted her teeth. This was a set up, she could feel it.

"What are you two talking about?" Rachel asked as she stopped beside Quinn to open the back passenger door so that she could strap the dogs into their harnesses.

"Nothing, just some article I read that I was telling Santana about." Quinn and Santana plastered on their best fake smiles.

Rachel eyed them both warily. "If you say so..." She trailed off looking unsure.

"Whatever you made for dinner smells amazing." Santana changed the subject, she could come up with a fake article story to tell Rachel when they got home.

"Chicken and chorizo rice with some grilled asparagus." Puck passed off the containers of food that he was holding through the window to Santana. "You think you can handle that?" He asked with an eyebrow raised, he didn't want to be responsible for sending Santana on another spewing session.

"Yeah, I'm really starting to get my appetite back and I'm just sore at the moment, not nauseous or anything." Rachel was going to have to hurry, she would start drooling soon.

"Good...don't uh, don't scare us like that again." Puck nodded his head like he was trying to not get choked up and pulled Beth into his side. The thought of Santana being in the hospital had sent him back to when he almost lost her after the car accident. It was only the stomach virus, but the fact that he was here and she was there and he couldn't get to her was the worst part. He had a daughter, a pregnant wife and two dogs to take care of, Santana would have just gotten upset if he had showed up. She had Rachel to take care of her and there was no way she would have let Puck just drop everything. There was no shaking that stubborn gene out of her.

"I'll try not to. I'm ready to go home and thank you so much for taking care of my babies." Santana turned around in her seat a little bit so that Dax could reach her. Dahlia would have to wait and give welcome home loving's when they got back home themselves. "I'm sorry but no hugs or kisses from me tonight just to be on the safe side." Santana said as she turned to look at the crest fallen expression on Beth's face, she really had missed her Auntie San. Everyone else laughed as Rachel climbed back into the jeep and turned in the driveway so that she and Santana could go home and finally rest for a while. It had been a long weekend.

* * *

**AngieMG, I don't think this was the first time that you have mentioned something in a review right before I post a chapter about the exact thing you mentioned. I swear I think you are somehow in my head. Lol.**

**I just want to say before anyone possibly says anything (I am looking at you aloof guest reviewer) Quinn is not being naive when dealing with Jasper. She is aware of the entire situation. It could honestly just be some messed up coincidence considering Puck chose his interns based solely on talent. No one had looked into Jasper's family history until now. If there was any strings pulled it definitely wasn't on Puck's part. I just wanted to get that out of the way before any theories got started. **

**Things are going to start moving along soon. I mean we do still have a baby to bring into the world and a wedding. Fun times are ahead. **


	24. Scouts Honor

"Santana!" Rachel yelled from the loft. She was busy finishing getting ready to head into the studio, they were working on her vocals today for Joe's song. There really was no telling where Santana was, she could be in the cabin or she could be outside feeding the chickens or playing with the dogs. Huffing when she received no answer, Rachel made her way down the stairs and outside onto the porch. "Santana!"

Santana was coming out of the chicken house when she heard Rachel yell for her. It felt so good to be completely back to her normal self. No more sickness, no more post stomach pain and her energy was at a full one hundred percent as Rachel had found out last night. Santana smirked to herself, Rachel was lucky she wasn't walking funny this morning. "Yeah babe?" Santana yelled back across the yard as she approached Rachel, her two side kicks running ahead of her.

"If you're going to the field or tree house today, make sure you're back in time to clean up. The big dinner with everyone at PF Productions is tonight." If Rachel didn't remind her Santana would spend all day playing at the tree house and completely forget.

Santana pouted as she jumped onto the side of the porch, hanging onto the railing. "But I thought you liked me all sweaty and dirty?"

Rachel giggled at Santana's antics. "Are you trying to be Romeo right now?"

"Mmmm, maybe. But Soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Juliet is the sun! Arise fair-" Santana released her hold on the side of porch swinging her arm and leg out dramatically. Quickly realizing her mistake Santana scrambled to grab the railing again before her she fell off the porch.

"Santana! Do not fall and get hurt. Just make sure you're not late tonight please?" Rachel pouted at Santana with her puppy dog eyes.

"What should I wear?" Santana asked as she tried to slow her racing heart. Almost falling off the porch was a little scary yet very thrilling. However, she didn't need another trip to the hospital.

Rachel scrunched her nose in though. "It's semi-formal so nothing super fancy, just dress nice."

"I can wear my suspenders? Maybe a form fitting button down, you know with the top buttons undone?" Santana asked innocently as she not so innocently undone the buttons on the current plaid button down that she was wearing. Call her cliche' or make jokes about plaid and being lesbian, Santana didn't mind. She frankly really enjoyed the lumberjack look she had going sometimes. She liked it and Rachel thought it was sexy and that was all that mattered.

Rachel was trying to control herself watching Santana undo the buttons on her shirt. "Uh..yeah, if..if that's what you want to wear then sure." She subtly licked her lips at the skin that Santana now had showing. It was like she was entranced watching Santana's hand work it's way down the buttons.

"Okay." Santana shrugged her shoulders and rested her hand back on the porch railing. She knew what she was going. Teasing Rachel was one of her favorite past times.

Rachel stared at Santana, her mouth moving up and down like a fish. Did she..? Really? "You're so mean!" Rachel huffed as she turned around and started back into the cabin to grab her bags. Santana chuckled as she pulled herself up and swung her leg over the railing and followed Rachel into the cabin.

* * *

When Rachel walked into the building, Quinn was standing there waiting for her. "We have a meeting this morning instead of you going into the studio right away."

"What kind of meeting?" Rachel asked confused.

"Puck wants to talk to you and the interns about something." Quinn spoke over her shoulder as she walked away assuming that Rachel was following right behind her.

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and followed along behind Quinn and smiled at everyone as she entered the conference room. "Good morning." She smiled as she sat down next to Quinn at the table.

"Morning." Puck responded while shuffling papers around in front of him and stuffing half a muffin in his mouth. Quinn rolled her eyes. Her husband ladies and gentlemen! "Rachel." Puck cleared his throat and coughed, that muffin was dry as hell. "How do you feel about releasing each song you and the guys do?"

"Uh...I thought they were just supposed to be demo's to pick who would be my on my writing staff?"

"They were, but since each song is being created to cater to your voice, it wouldn't seem right to just sell that off to another artist. So this is what I am proposing, we release Joe's song first since it's almost done then we do the other two. Now the initial contracts still stand, one of you will be chosen for Rachel and the other two I will try to find a fit here at the label for you, but that's not a guarantee. I don't want to possibly send anyone home empty handed with nothing but an experience box filled on your next resume." Puck looked around at everyone trying to gauge their reactions to what he was proposing. It was going to be more work but at the end of the summer who ever went home, would have a pretty good amount of money in their pocket for their dedicated time.

"Okay...when you say release do you mean videos for each song too?" Rachel sat forward in her chair.

"The works, videos, promotional ads, everything."

"What does this mean exactly for them?" Rachel asked as she pointed to the interns.

"For them it means, getting their writings out to other people in case I can't find a spot for them here and it means that even though this is an unpaid internship, at the end of it they can go home with some bank."

"Are you going to buy the songs first or are we each going to get a royalty contract?" Brock spoke up, either way this internship went he was getting more than experience out it.

"A bit of both really. I have the company lawyer on stand by to start working on contracts if this is something that you're all interested in doing." All the interns began to shake their heads eagerly, there was some major money that could be made for them here if the songs done really well. "Rachel? You get the final word."

"I'm not saying no, because it's a great opportunity for everyone in here and it's a great way to get me back into the music before the album. But, I am not saying yes either yet. I know it's my career and it's my decision but I would really like to talk to Santana about this first. We have this whole summer planned out around recording demo's, not releasing singles." Rachel was perplexed, how could she say no to the eager faces of the interns. She was really going to have to talk to Santana about all of this.

"You know she is going to tell you to go for it Rachel." Quinn spoke up. "She knows how much your music means to you, it's the equivalent of what her paintings means for her."

"I know, but she's going to be disappointed. This was supposed to be our time together because of how busy I am going to be when we start recording the album." And planning a wedding, Rachel mused to herself. Speaking of..."Puck do you know when Christmas break is this year?"

Puck scrunched his nose in thought. "Roughly the same as last year, the nineteenth or twentieth to the fourth or fifth. Why?"

"Just curious. Anyway, I will talk to Santana about all of this tonight after the label dinner."

"Okay, sounds good to me. Now let's get this day started. The faster today goes by the faster I can chow down tonight." Puck had pulled out all the stops for the label dinner tonight. He just hoped that everyone would be as hungry as him because there was going to be copious amounts of food.

* * *

Santana jumped around the living room trying to get her other shoe on, she was late. Rachel was going to kill her. Duncan better have those gates open because she could not sit around and wait for them to open. If she had to she might just plow right through them and worry about replacing them later.

Santana had done the one thing that Rachel had asked her not to do. She had lost track of time at the tree house and then when she was getting ready the clasp on her black suspenders decided to break. That meant she had to change shirts and suspenders, she was going to be in so much trouble. Maybe Rachel would give her a spanking...stop it. You have to leave and you have no time for thoughts like that. Rachel will not be amused with your sexual jokes at the moment.

Finally tying her shoe, which why in the hell were shoe strings so small in dress shoes? Was there a legit explanation for it? Santana finally made it out to her jeep and headed towards the studio, blowing her horn at Duncan as she sped by. He simply shook his head as he watched her drive away.

When Santana finally made it to the studio she was only ten minutes late. Huh...not as bad as she thought. Santana spotted Rachel waiting at the side doors of the building as she parked her jeep and she didn't look super mad yet. Just a little annoyed.

"Hi Baby, you look beautiful." Santana said sweetly as she walked closer to Rachel. She had contemplated staying in her jeep for a minute, but she didn't want to upset Rachel further.

"Don't sweet talk me. You're late." Rachel raised an eyebrow. She wasn't really mad, she knew this morning that there was no way in hell that Santana would be on time tonight. It was surprising she was only ten minutes late. Rachel had mentally given her thirty minutes before she got mad.

Santana shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "Well you see, I did lose track of time at the tree house, but I made up for it! Until I had a wardrobe malfunction and yeah, stuff just started falling apart."

Rachel huffed and smiled as she grabbed Santana's hand and pulled her through the doors and down the hallway leading her to the cafeteria that had been turned into a fancy looking dining hall. "I know you're going to be on your best behavior when you meet the intern guys right?" Rachel asked, still leading Santana.

"Pfft, I am always on my best behavior. You know this." Santana still hadn't found the right time to tell Rachel that Jasper was related the Porter's. She was going to do some investigating herself and maybe threaten or warn Jasper to stay the hell away. Rachel stopped short and turned to glare at Santana who almost walked into her back. "Okay fine. I promise to behave. Scouts honor."

"You were never a scout." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Because they don't let girls be scouts. I got kicked out of my brownie troop when I was five. It's not my fault Sally Sampson's clothes ended up in the lake and her stuffed pig Gilbert was missing his head the next morning at a camp out. Racist little bit-"

"Santana! You are talking about a child. I can't believe you decapitated a stuffed pig."

"Well she was a bitch. She was always calling me names and being mean to me. So I got her back." Santana grinned that evil little smile.

"I don't know what I will do with a child like you." Rachel stopped as they reached the doors to the cafeteria.

"You're going to love them and cherish them." Santana responded as she placed a kiss on Rachel's lips. "Let's do this. I am more than prepared to beat the hell out of Jasper if I need too." Rachel chose to ignore that statement and opened the door where the women were greeted with the low murmur of chatter and soft music playing.


	25. The Chase Is On

Santana stood shocked at the amount of people that were in the cafeteria. She had no idea that this many people worked at PF Productions. Her eyes scanned the crowd searching for _him_. Yes she had promised Rachel that she would be on her best behavior, but that only meant that she wouldn't cause a scene. The plan to talk to Jasper alone was still very firm in the forefront of her mind.

"Rachel I thought this was just a dinner?" The cafeteria was less of a fancy dining hall, more of a very elaborate high school prom with professional servers. Puck even had a dance floor set up in the corner of the room.

"Well it's a dinner party and you know Puck goes all out for anything that includes food and partying." Rachel grabbed Santana's hand and began to work her way through the tables to find her and Santana's seats. "We're at the same table as Puck and Quinn."

"Where are the interns?" Santana asked as once again started scanning the crowd. She wasn't sure what the other two looked like and since she had only seen Jasper once, he would most likely have to be pointed out to her unless he was grinning when she saw him.

"They have their own table with some of the other interns. You know directing, marketing, management." Rachel spoke offhandedly.

"Management interns? Does Quinn have one? Is she finding a stand in for when she has Davis?"

"No, Quinn is going to work from home when she has Davis. Besides, I will be recording the album and then Christmas break. So I won't be taking on anymore projects outside of music for a while unless it's something tiny that would only take a day or two. Quinn is not going to trust anyone to filter through offers and such, she always gets the best ones." Rachel continued to weave in and out of the tables until they finally made it to Quinn and Puck. There was no specific lay out of the tables, because Puck didn't want to make others feel like he was superior to them. Yes it was his business, but no business could run smoothly without the help of the others around him. They were all top dogs in his eyes.

"You're late Satan." Quinn stated with a smirk as Santana helped Rachel scoot her chair in. Yes, she was being sweet to make up for being late, but Quinn didn't need to know that.

"Don't even start. Puck tell them not to start." Rachel pouted in Puck's direction who was oblivious as he took large bites out of what Rachel assumed was an animal at some point. Santana and Quinn both chuckled at Puck, they weren't going to be hearing much from him tonight.

"Where's Beth? I can never pass up an opportunity to impose my satanism on her." Santana smirked as she leaned out of the way of the server who had walked up to pour her some ice water.

"She's at one of her friends spending the night. She has conditioning in the morning and then we're going to pick her up for summer orientation at her new school." Quinn responded before taking a bite of her salad.

"Conditioning? Summer orientation? What kind of school is she being sent to?" Santana asked horrified. She had never heard of middle school kids doing major conditioning way before their season started.

"Soccer is St. Lawrence Private's number one sport. Their conditioning is only once every couple of weeks and they just get to know new members on the team and learn new formations and stuff. She's super excited about it. The summer orientation is a formality to meet the teachers and get a summer reading list. All she has talked about lately is meeting the new music and dance teachers that they just recently hired. We don't know who they are yet but they're supposed to be great. They apparently co-teach, one does the music and the other does the dance. They alternate weeks and then do performances at the end of each month."

Rachel wondered who these teachers were. It wasn't unheard of for music and dance teachers to co-teach, especially at St. Lawrence Private. If soccer was their number one athletic then music and dance were their number one art representatives. "The school hasn't made any announcements about them?"

Quin shook her head. "They're keeping both of them hush hush at the moment. We've checked the school website and everything, the old teacher, who done both, is still listed under the faculty and staff."

"That's odd, I wonder why they are keeping them so quiet?" Santana asked.

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. She had no idea why they were so secretive about the new teachers. There was a chance they were older Broadway legends, it was New York after all. They would have to just wait and see.

* * *

Santana laid down her fork onto her plate. She was beyond stuffed. They were definitely going to have to dance some of this off later. Puck had informed them that when some of the stuffy people went home things were going to get a little livelier. In Puck terms that meant that the music was about to get louder and the alcohol would transition from wine and champagne to something a little harder. No wonder Beth was safely tucked away at a friends house tonight. Quinn had gotten a little offended at being referred to as a stuffy person since she couldn't drink, but Puck assured her that she could dance her feet off and he was getting too old to do any hard liquor. A lot of this was a bit more for the young guns who needed to loosen up a bit and stop trying to be poised perfection while working at PF Productions.

"When do I get to meet the interns?" Santana smirked as she looked at Rachel.

"I am actually surprised none of them have came over this evening." Rachel replied as she raised up in her chair looking around the room for any of the guys.

Puck snorted and looked away. He knew the reason as to why Jasper at least hadn't came over tonight. There was no telling what the other two were getting into. "Jasper is afraid to come over here." Santana raised an eyebrow at Puck as Rachel looked on confused, waiting for an explanation. "He has a crush on Rachel and he is scared of Santana since Quinn informed him that she would beat him up."

Rachel huffed and rolled her eyes. "There will be no beating any one up tonight. He's a sweet guy and I'm flattered he has a crush on me, but I am a happily engaged woman who will be getting married in the winter."

"Where is he?" Santana asked her question towards Puck because she knew Rachel wouldn't tell her is she spotted him.

"Santana you are not going to start anything. He has a crush and that's it. I will talk to him and tell him that if he can't keep his feelings in check then well, I guess you will have to find a new intern Puck." Rachel was not about to let Santana get carried away in a moment of jealousy and fly off the handle.

Instead of responding or even acknowledging that she had heard Rachel, Santana continued to stare at Puck until his eyes flickered once to his right. Quinn who had been quiet the whole time was wondering why in the hell Santana hadn't old Rachel about what they found out yet. Rachel was completely oblivious to the fact that Jasper was related to the Porters. Santana watched as Pucks eyes followed Jasper across the room as he made his way toward the doors that they had entered in. Thankfully Rachel wasn't paying any attention to her. This was her chance to get away and go after him.

"I swear I won't say anything or beat the shit out of him." Santana held up her hands in faux surrender. She could keep her feelings in check most of the time. This time however, she had every right to be outraged.

"You promise?" Rachel asked warily. She knew Santana was lying, but if she promised then she could put more trust in her to not hurt Jasper. That was one of the other many things that Rachel loved about Santana. Promises were serious agreements to Santana since so many had been broken for her as a child.

"I promise." Santana smiled reassuringly. She knew this was a promise she was going to have to break, but if it meant that she was going to keep Rachel safe then it was worth it. Santana leaned over to kiss Rachel's cheek, she couldn't seal this promise with a proper kiss. "I am going to go to bathroom and then we can dance for a bit before we head home if you want?" Rachel nodded her head and smiled at Santana as she watched her go. Puck decided to remain quiet and wait at least five minutes before he went after Santana. Quinn was already feeling anxious, she just knew that Santana was going to look for Jasper and let him on their little secret. There was a chance that things were about to get ugly. She subtly glanced at Puck who was already bouncing his knee in anticipation. He was going to go after her, maybe he could stop it before something truly bad did happen.

* * *

Jasper had been trying to keep an eye on Rachel and Santana all evening. He had seen them repeatedly but they really hadn't taken much notice to him at least. The dinner had started to wind down a little while ago, but there were still tons of people hanging around talking, drinking and dancing. His boss really did know how to throw a grand party. He had to go home soon and call his uncle to see if there were any updates or anything going on that he needed to know about.

He couldn't imagine that there was much to report on. Things had pretty much came to a stand still in all directions. There was no way that any of his cousins were getting out of prison soon and Ronald was probably laying out on a beach somewhere while the whole state of New York searched for him. Hell for all he knew that was probably what was in the backpack that Conner dropped in the airport, a vacation bag for Ronald. It made sense...kind of. Almost nothing made sense anymore except that he was to keep tabs on Rachel, Santana and Leroy at all times. Which he should probably check up on Leroy soon, the last time he was seen he was having a romantic date night with Bayani, the reason he wasn't here tonight with Rachel.

Deciding it was time to head out, Jasper excused himself from the table that he was sitting at. The other interns he had joined were nice and very pleasant. Too bad he wasn't going to be able to stick around and actually enjoy being friends with them. As he made his way across the room, he could feel eyes on him. Glancing around he spotted his boss looking right at him. He smiled and half waved before heading out the doors, he could feel a gaze settle on his back like a target. Someone was zeroing in him, he had to bolt before they followed. He ran towards the exit doors as quickly as he could searching desperately for his keys in his jacket pocket.

* * *

Santana had walked calmly towards the cafeteria doors, she didn't want Rachel to catch onto anything. As soon as she was out of Rachel's eye sight she bolted down the hallway assuming that Jasper was about to run. Santana rounded the corner that she just seen Jasper disappear around before heading towards the parking lot. If she couldn't talk to him maybe she could just run him over or something. She was so close to catching him that she could feel the fire under her steps grow hotter. Two seconds more and she could have her hands on him.

* * *

Jasper ran through the exit doors as fast as he could and headed straight for his car. He heard the exit door swing open hard as he pressed the button to unlock his doors. Dive and drive, he chanted to himself, he was almost home free for now at least.

"Jasper! Stop running you son of a bitch!" Santana shouted as she skidded to a halt in the parking lot. Where in the hell had all these cars came from all of a sudden? Did everyone decide to leave at once? There had been no one in the hallways, which obviously they were either still in the dinner or out here.

Jasper ignored Santana and glanced back long enough to see that she had stopped chasing him because she was blocked off by some cars. He jumped into his car as quickly as he could, thankful that he was on the East side of the parking lot and everyone seemed to exiting from the West. His eyes bulged as he saw Santana in his rear view mirror take off again dodging cars as they tried to leave. This woman was crazy! She was going to get herself ran over and for what reason? He actually didn't know...unless she knew something. Oh shit. She knew something. Dammit, if his uncle found that they knew anything about him, he was going to be in so much trouble. He didn't have time to think anymore as he put his car into gear and sped out of the parking lot trying not to crash into any one.

Santana came to a stop in the parking spot that Jasper had just left. There was no way she was getting into a car chase tonight. Rachel wouldn't be too happy about that and she had already been gone plenty of time to use the bathroom and come back. She would have to tell Rachel that she got lost or something. Santana sighed in defeat as she turned to make her way back into the building. She really needed to run more, she was a just a little bit winded.

* * *

**So close! Don't worry though, Jasper's time will come. **

**Also, if you guess correctly who the teachers are...you win a virtual cookie! **

**Thank you to everyone who has viewed, reviewed, followed and favorited this story. ****Yay for mini milestones! Chapter 25 is a great chapter to be on and this story passed 10,000 views which makes me super happy. Thank you all for sticking with me. **


	26. Done Keeping Secrets

Santana walked back into the cafeteria with a pouty look on her face with her arms crossed over her chest. She had really wanted to catch Jasper. What she was going to do when she caught him could have went either way. On one hand she was kind of glad she hadn't caught him, making a scene here at the studio would have been bad PR for everyone. Hopefully no one in the parking lot had taken the time to pull out their phone and record her playing Duke's of Hazard across the cars.

"What's wrong? What took you so long?" Rachel asked as Santana sat back down in her chair at the table.

"I got lost and had to ask some dweeb how to get back here." Santana let the lie roll right off her tongue. She had practiced it the whole way back to the cafeteria.

"How did you get lost, there are bathrooms right outside the door." After Santana hadn't came back within a few minutes Rachel was about to go looking for her.

Santana shrugged her shoulders and picked at the table clothe. "Those were locked so I had to go find a different bathroom."

"Really? They shouldn't be locked." Puck looked around confused.

"Well they were." Santana retorted. She gave Puck a look that said "just go with it."

"I'll go unlock them. We don't need people fueled with alcohol and horrible direction skills wandering all over the building." Puck slid his chair out to go pretend to unlock the bathrooms. He knew exactly what Santana had done and she was sure she would tell him later what had happened.

"For your information, I don't have horrible direction skills. Your building is just confusing as hell considering I haven't been in it much." You would think with Santana being best friends with Puck and Quinn and in a relationship with Rachel that she would know this building like the back of her hand. That wasn't the case at all. She knew how to get to Quinn's office, Puck's office, the main conference room, Rachel's favorite studio and the cafeteria if she entered from the front. That was it. If Rachel hadn't of been leading her when they first got here she would have gotten lost coming in from the side doors. It was all a game of retracing her steps and a good bit of luck when she had came back this time.

"Anyway, are you ready to go or do you want dance and stay a while?" Rachel asked as she rested a hand on Santana's thigh.

"I thought we were going to stay a while? Besides, we can't leave Quinn at the table by herself." Santana motioned to Quinn who was just sitting there rubbing her belly. She wasn't even paying attention to them anymore.

"Quinn?" Rachel spoke quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Quinn looked back and forth between Santana and Rachel. "Yeah, I'm fine. Davis is kicking up a storm though."

"Awww!" Rachel started to get up and round the table to feel but she stopped short. She wasn't exactly sure how Quinn felt on the whole touching her belly thing.

Quinn looked at Rachel with a small smile. "Come here, you can feel." Rachel stepped closer and tentatively reached a hand out. She was guided by Quinn to the area next to her belly button where Rachel could definitely feel a little thumping against her hand. "Oh my gosh. He's so active." Rachel squealed. "You're going to be just like your big sister kicking like that." She cooed to Quinn's belly. Quinn chuckled as she rubbed her belly, she had a feeling that Davis was going to try and be like his sister in more ways than one.

Santana sat content to watch Rachel fawn all over Davis, it was sweet to see how much love could radiate for a person you had yet to meet. She hoped that in the future her and Rachel would be able to share a similar experience. Even if they wanted to have a baby right now it wouldn't be the best timing for them considering everything that was going on at the moment. The whole situation with Jasper and the Porter's was all just so confusing and infuriating. No one knew what they wanted because no one was talking, it was like a ticking time bomb and she just knew it was all going to explode soon. Even more reason to try and get Jasper to talk. If he did talk, could what he said be trusted? She highly doubted it. Being related to the Porter's meant that he was a professional liar and con-artist.

It was decided that tonight, when they got home, Santana was going to tell Rachel about Jasper. She deserved to know. Hopefully she wouldn't be super mad that Santana didn't tell her as soon as she found out. Hopefully Sue would be returning soon and she could help Santana find out more stuff about Jasper. There was only so much that the internet could provide without having to sign up and pay for the information on records websites. Santana was awoken from her thoughts when she heard Puck speak. She hadn't even seen him come back.

"Do you want to dance my lady?" Puck asked as he approached the table and bowed to Quinn.

"You're such a dork." Quinn laughed as she took Puck's hand and allowed him to help her stand. Yeah, Davis was doing a number on her back with all his dancing tonight.

"Yeah, but I am your dork." Puck responded with a wink as he turned to lead Quinn out on the dance floor.

Santana watched them go before she turned back around to see Rachel standing there with her hand held out. She raised an eyebrow at Santana silently asking her if she would like to dance also. Without saying anything, Santana grabbed Rachel's hand and smiled as they joined Puck and Quinn on the dance floor. With Jasper gone it felt nice to enjoy an evening like this with her fiancee. Santana decided at that moment, she would make sure that her and Rachel had more nights like this. Dinner, dancing and a little romance to finish off the night.

* * *

Santana wasn't surprised that she missed another opportunity to tell Rachel about Jasper. She had had every intention of telling Rachel until Rachel had found some fruity drink that tasted amazing and insisted on having more than one. She hadn't gotten completely wasted, but she was just fuzzy enough that anything Santana might have said would have went in one ear and out the other. Rachel needed to be sober for this talk.

Rachel was now nursing a dull headache and eating the lovely breakfast that Santana had made for her. Sometimes Rachel felt like she didn't deserve Santana and all that she done for her. Really the woman made her breakfast almost every morning unless Rachel beat her to the kitchen and got started before Santana. She always tried to repay her with dinner most nights though, which Santana begrudgingly let her do since she enjoyed cooking all the time. This led to the idea that maybe...

"Santana you should open a restaurant." Rachel gasped like she had just revealed one of the wonders of the Earth.

Santana turned around from the waffle iron that was setting on the counter and looked at Rachel questioningly. "Where did that idea come from?"

"I was just thinking about how you always make me breakfast and how I make you dinner in return when you don't beat me to it. It would be nice, you could do an art inspired place and oh you could name it after your Abuelo!" Rachel bounced on her stool, this was one of the best ideas she had ever had.

"Mmm, I don't know. It costs a lot of money to start a business like that." Santana crossed her arms and rested her hip against the counter. Rachel wanted to roll her eyes at that, but she didn't. She understood Santana had amazing money saving skills and she didn't spend very much money at one time. In the time that Rachel had knew Santana the woman had only done what she considered huge splurges, twice. Those two times included building Rachel's studio and screen room and Rachel's engagement ring. The ring and cabin additions had came out of her trust fund which she had worked tirelessly to replace the money for. Now the trust fund was back to its original amount, their savings accounts along with their active bank accounts were more than full. Money wasn't an often discussed topic but there was no denying that both of them had been blessed in their careers. Besides, who said they would be the ones spending all the money on it anyway?

"I agree it is a lot of money, but there's investors out there that will back you on this. So many more people than just me believe in everything that you do. How many times have you taken over catering for your art shows and people left with an art piece and a recipe written on a napkin?" Rachel was really trying to plead her case here.

Santana laughed out loud at one of those many memories. "I really think that one catering company has a no contact order against me. And remember that one pompous ass who asked me if I wanted to go home with him and train his wife? I made sure he never got put on a show list ever again."

Rachel huffed, those were horrible examples. "I know and respect that your painting comes first. But I also know that if art school had fell through and your client list hadn't taken off you would probably be the head chef of your own restaurant right now. Either way you're an artist through and through and you should share that with the world."

"I _hear_ you, I'm more than just listening. It's just we're already so busy this year and I don't want anything to get in the way of our time together before things get really busy. Plus there's the added stuff with the Porter's again. Hopefully Sue will be back sometime this coming week and we can meet with her and Detective Beiste about what's going on. We can put the idea on the back burner for now and I promise at the beginning of next year when things settle back down we can revisit the idea." Santana had moved and was now bent over leaning on the island in front of Rachel.

"I need to tell you something." Rachel spoke softly, she knew she had to tell Santana about the added work that Puck had suggested.

"What is it?" Santana asked worriedly. Rachel was wearing such a crest fallen expression that she wasn't sure what was about to come out her mouth.

"Puck wants to release the demos with the interns as singles. Introduce me back into the music before we do the album. I mean it has been three years since I done music and this album it going to be more mature than my EP. It seems like the best thing to do for my career." Rachel was scrambling to explain herself before Santana could possibly get upset.

Santana kept her face a neutral expression. "Is that it?" Rachel nodded sadly. "Then why did you look so upset?" Santana questioned as she rounded the island to sit down next to Rachel on a stool. She turned Rachel around so that her knees were resting in the space between her own. "You said it's the best thing to do for your career, right?" Santana asked as she took Rachel's hands into her own. Rachel nodded sadly. "Then go for it. If Puck thinks it's a good idea and you want to do it then okay. I'm not going to get upset about that."

"I just feel so bad that we already had this amazing summer planned and he wants to do the full works for the songs." Rachel pouted, they had mini-vacations and trips to the tree house planned.

"Rachel." Santana rolled her eyes. "We can work around it. It takes what one to three days to shoot a video? And then there's your rehearsals and finding dancers and stuff if you go that route. We can make it work, if need be we can reschedule stuff that we had planned. I mean it's not like the tree house or places we wanted to visit are going anywhere. What we miss out on now, we can make up for on our honey moon. It will be okay and since we are confessing stuff, there's something I need to tell you too." Santana really didn't want to do this, there was a chance this could blow up in her face. That was a risk she was going to have to be willing to take.


	27. Now What

"What is it that you need to tell me Santana?" Rachel was starting to panic. Santana had said that she needed to tell her something but it had been ten minutes now and Santana still hadn't said anything.

"Uhm...you know how I said there was something about Jasper that I didn't trust?" Santana spoke quietly as she refused to meet Rachel's eyes.

"Yeah. What about Jasper? Santana did you go after him at the dinner?! I knew you were lying when you said you weren't going to. I should have followed you." Rachel got up and began to pace around the kitchen.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. So maybe I did go after him at the dinner, but that's not the point here. You might not even yell at me when I tell you why. He's not who you think he is Rachel." Santana was on her feet as well now hoping that Rachel would calm down to at least listen to her reasoning.

"So tell me Santana who is he? Who is this person you know absolutely nothing about?" Rachel was fuming. So what if Jasper had a crush on her, nothing would ever come of it.

"He's related to the Porter's. We think someone pulled some strings to get him in the running for Puck's internship." Santana paused and waited in anticipation for Rachel's reaction.

"Who is _we_?" The look on Rachel's face was neutral and the fact that she was so eerily calm is what terrified Santana the most.

"Quinn and I." Santana looked sheepish, almost like she probably shouldn't have said anything in the first place. "Listen, I know you're angry that we went behind your back when you told me to just trust you, but this is the only time I have ever done anything like this and I am not sorry. We found out that Jasper is the cousin of Marcus and all of them. He's here for some reason, we just don't know what reason yet."

"How long have you known?" Rachel looked defeated like all of this really wasn't that surprising. She had had her own reservations about Jasper, so she can't really be that mad at Santana for actually following through with hers.

"Since we came back from the city. Quinn told me that night, that's what were actually talking about. Not some article." Santana sighed as she sat back down on her stool. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

"You've known for this long!?" Rachel really wanted to be really mad, but what use what that going to do. It honestly did explain something odd that she had noticed at the studio. "That's why Quinn has been hanging around all week when Jasper was around, isn't it? After her and Puck mentioned Jasper's crush at the dinner, I just assumed she was hanging around to stop him from making a move on me or something. She was hanging around to try and figure him out." Rachel was nodding to herself as she put the puzzle pieces together in her head.

"Are you super mad at me?" Santana asked without looking up.

Rachel smiled at the softness of Santana's voice. "I want to be because you didn't trust me and you went behind my back. But I get why you done it. I have to ask did you go after him at the dinner because of this or because of his crush on me?"

"Both?" Santana smirked a little. She really was a protective force to reckon with.

"Are you and Quinn the only two who know about this?" Rachel asked as she stepped closer to Santana, pushing her knees apart so she could stand as close as possible.

"As far as I know. Because, I am pretty sure that if she told Puck he would kick him off the internship."

"Would that be such a bad thing though? I mean it keeps him away from me." Rachel wrapped her arms around Santana's neck.

Santana bobbed her head back and forth. "It wouldn't be a bad thing, but if he is here then we can keep an eye on him. You know? What if he loses the internship and it sets him off and he tries something? I don't want you getting hurt."

"But what if his intentions are to eventually hurt someone anyway?" This was really starting to make her more nervous by the second.

"That's part of the reason I went after him. Threaten him until he talked and tell him that he better get rid of his crush on you." That had been the plan at least until he decided to run off on her. "He may mention me chasing him to you tomorrow if you go in to the studio."

"What am I supposed to do? I have to work with him. How can I calmly work with him knowing he may have ill intentions or that he is here to stalk..oh. He is here to stalk us. That's why he showed up at that sushi place when me and Dad went out."

"What are you talking about? Why am I just now hearing about this?" Santana was a just a little angry now. She knew that there was a chance Jasper was stalking them and she hadn't said anything?

Rachel sighed as she rested her head on Santana's chest. "I didn't think much of it. He came into the sushi place in St. Lawrence and said hi to me and Dad. He said he was there for lunch and he had lied to Puck about where he was going. I just thought he was an idiot intern kid who was trying to push the limits and test his boundaries. He left in a panic when he thought I was going to call Puck on him. And you know, come to think of it...the morning he ran into you at the diner, he should have been at work then."

"If he is a stalker, he really is a bad one." Santana chuckled to her self. "Anybody knows that the first rule of being a good stalker is to not be seen. I think we know where he is more than he knows were we are."

"So what are we going to do about him? I know I want the security upped around the cabin again because what if he tries to bug it or something?" Rachel looked around where she was standing, what if the cabin was already bugged?

"Stop looking for camera's and microphones. The cabin is not bugged. There's no way he could have gotten in here. Duncan and some of his guys are still doing checks every night, the security camera's would have alerted whoever was at the gate had someone been prowling around on the property. They tag everything that comes into frame and we would have gotten phone alerts had the system been tampered with. We're good, I promise. Plus there's really no good spots to hide anything like that in here anyway without drilling some holes and I would have noticed if anything like that had been done." Santana rested her hands on Rachel's hips, you could call Jasper a stalker, but Santana really just thought he was there to keep an eye on them, not really watch their every single move.

"That still didn't answer my question about what we are going to do about him?"

"We aren't going to do anything other than keep an eye on him. If he's reporting back to his uncle then he really has nothing to report. We need to find out what he is doing here first before we come up with a plan. If he asks you about me chasing him, tell him it was about the crush, laugh it off as me being a jealous fiancee. He has to think we don't know anything. Just be careful around him." Rachel got the idea. This was something that they had to tread carefully with. She could handle Jasper if he tried anything, hopefully he wouldn't though. At least not before they figured out what he was doing here. Maybe...Rachel thought to herself...maybe she could get some answers out of him.

* * *

Conner heard the scuffle way before the men even reached his cell. He knew that voice and he knew it well. What in the hell was his father doing here in the jail of all places?

"Unhand me this instant you buffoon! I will have your job for this! I will sue you and take every last damn penny that you have to your name. I have done nothing wrong, I didn't know he was at the beach house. I don't even know that man!" Charles Porter grunted as he tried to pull away from the officer that had him restrained.

"Sir, if you jerk like that again you are going to hurt yourself. There's nothing that can be done today, the judge doesn't come back until Monday. But hey at least you get to spend the weekend with your son!" The officer was being overly cheery for the hell of it. Charles Porter had been making a scene since he and Robert Adkins were brought in about an hour and a half ago. They had been disturbing everyone and the whole jail knew that if they didn't shut up they were going to rial everyone up.

Conner watched with wide eyes as the officer leading his father stepped to the side so that he could unlock the cell door. He was utterly speechless, his father was the last person that he ever thought he would see in here. Charles looked at his son with utter disgust. This was his fault, if he and his brother's had done everything right the first time around this wouldn't be happening. There would be no reason for Ronald to be here, there would be no reason for him to be here. Now, he was in jail, Ronald was in jail, the other boys were on complete lock down and Jasper was basically flying solo with no one to give him instructions. This was supposed to be over three years ago, but now there were others in the mix that had to be taken down too. The whole damn thing had been blown way out of proportion.

"Step in, remain facing the wall and when I tell you, step back and place your hands in the slot so I can undo your cuffs." The officer spoke in a bored tone. Charles had done a complete one-eighty after seeing his son, which could be a good thing or bad thing. He would have to hang around and make sure that Charles didn't beat the hell out of him or anything. Charles done what he was told, there was no use in trying to fight it anymore at least not in front of the officer. The only thing that would get him would be a trip to the hole and he actually needed to be able to talk to Conner.

"Dad..what is going on? What happened?" Conner finally found the courage to ask when his father sat down on the bunk opposite to his and the officer had walked away. The silence has been deafening.

"Ronald got careless and someone seen him in the window of the beach house. They called the police and tada here we are." Charles held up his hands and gestured around the cell.

Okay, well that explained one thing but not really anything else. "But why are _you_ here? They don't believe you didn't know he was there or something?"

"I was there are the house when the police showed up. They're trying to charge me with harboring a known fugitive. They also found the back pack that you dropped in the airport when you got here. So they have reason to believe we helped you escape." Wow...they really had gotten careless. So Ronald was the one who had definitely picked up the back pack, he must have gotten on a different flight at a different airport if he beat Conner to LA. It wasn't an outlandish thought since Ronald had gotten the hell out of dodge right after he had helped Conner leave the hospital.

"What are we going to do now?" Conner wasn't sure if he was prepared for an actual answer or not.

"Well, there's nothing we can do until we get out of here. You should be going back to New York soon, probably Monday morning. I will have figured something out by then. It's time I take matters into my own hands instead of giving you idiots any responsibility." Charles scooted back to lay down on the bunk, he needed to think without any interruptions.


	28. Waiting Is The Name Of The Game

Rachel and Santana were both awoken by the constant ringing of their phones Sunday morning. Grumbling Rachel fumbled around flailing her arm about as she tried to locate the contraption that just wouldn't SHUT UP! When she finally located her phone it stopped ringing. Of course it would! She was going to kill whoever in the hell it was that kept calling. Even if threatening to kill someone was more Santana's forte than her own.

Huffing Rachel sat up in bed to look at the screen and jeez it was bright. What time was it? It was barely dawn outside. Santana didn't even get up this early when she had things to work on outside and that was saying something because she was always up super early when she was busy. Blinking her eyes repeatedly Rachel noticed that holy shit she had five missed calls and at least ten text messages. What in the hell was going on?

"Santana, wake up." Rachel reached over and shook Santana's shoulder. Rachel shook her shoulder again when all she received in response was a grunt. "Wake up Santana, something is going on. See how many missed calls and texts you have, because your phone was going off too."

Santana grabbed her phone off the nightstand. Why in the world did they decide to bring their phones to bed with them all of a sudden? Normally they were left just laying around somewhere in the cabin but for some reason that wasn't the case last night. She unlocked her phone, momentarily blinding herself before eyes adjusted and Santana realized that she too had a bunch of missed calls and texts.

Before Santana could even get the first text open, Rachel was already on her phone calling Quinn back. She listened to the ringing on the other end.

_"Rachel, I have been trying to get a hold of you all morning."_

Rachel rubbed her eyes. "I can tell, what's going on?"

_"Charles Porter and Ronald Adkins were arrested last night. They're both in jail with Conner at least until tomorrow. He may be coming back to New York in the morning."_

"So what does all of this mean? Is it over?"

_"I don't know. We still have Jasper to wor...shoot."_ Quinn paused she wasn't sure if Santana had told Rachel about Jasper yet.

"I know about Jasper. You haven't told Puck have you? Me and Santana didn't think it would be a good idea."

_"No, I haven't told him. But do you think we should tell him now? We assumed Jasper was working for Charles but now that Charles is in jail, what can he really do?"_

"Um, I don't know. Just hold off on telling Puck and I will talk to Santana about it."

_"You know he's going to be upset we didn't tell him."_

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully he will understand and not you know try and kill Jasper right off the bat."

_"Okay, well let me know something. I have to go before Puck and Beth wake up."_

Quinn hung up the phone after saying a quick goodbye. Was everything really over for Rachel, Santana and Leroy now? It could possibly be if Charles and Ronald decided to talk, but she didn't honestly see that happening anytime soon.

* * *

Rachel hung up her phone, glancing to her right to see that Santana had fallen back asleep without even really looking at her phone. She hadn't even bothered to sit up. Santana was laying on her front with her head buried underneath her pillow with her left arm hanging off the bed, her hand clutching her phone.

"Santana seriously, get up!" Rachel gave Santana's shoulder a good shake without purposely pushing her off into the floor. Sometimes Rachel didn't know her own strength.

Santana came out from under her pillow cursing in Spanish underneath her breath. "What in the hell is going on?" She still refused to make the effort to really move, simply turning her head and laying it back down on her pillow to stare up at Rachel.

"Charles and Ronald were arrested yesterday. We need to figure out what to do about Jasper now. Quinn thinks it will be okay to go ahead and tell Puck." Rachel bit her lip as she watched Santana process everything she had just said. She was left flabbergasted when Santana jumped out of bed and ran downstairs without saying anything. She returned a moment later with her laptop.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked curiously.

"I am looking this shit up. I want to see their mug shots and what exactly got them arrested." Santana smirked as she typed in the men's names and waited for the search results. "Oh wow..what an idiot."

"What's it say?!" Rachel asked as she scooted over behind where Santana had sat down on the bed.

_Charles Porter of Porter Law Firm was arrested Saturday morning at his Santa Monica beach house for harboring a known fugitive by the name of Ronald Adkins. Ronald Adkins of New York was the doctor that allegedly help Charles's son Conner Porter escape from the custody of his security guard during a brief stay in the hospital._

_The two men were discovered when a citizen was walking past and noticed movement in the dark house. Assuming it was a possible intruder they called the local authorities who arrived to find Ronald Adkins hiding in a closet. It appears he had been staying there for some time before being noticed. Charles Porter had attempted to escape out of the back exit where he was apprehended by waiting officers. Both men are being lodged in the Los Angeles County jail as of this moment. No court dates have been set yet._

"Soooo, now they know that Charles has been lying about everything." Rachel spoke, more to herself than Santana.

"With them behind bars, Jasper is our only issue now. I think...we should tell Puck. But we tell him our plan too so that he doesn't fire Jasper." Santana really wanted to handle this on her own, but she knew she couldn't always be around. Puck needed to know so that he could help keep Rachel safe when she was at work.

"Do, do you want to go tell him right now?" Rachel peered out of the loft window, it was just barely dawn outside. Quinn was already up, Davis had probably woke her up and Puck would be up soon.

"No. Right now, I want some lovin' since I am already up. Then we can have breakfast and get ready to go over there." Santana closed the laptop and laid it down in the floor before she turned abruptly and pounced on an unsuspecting Rachel. Rachel squealed and giggled as Santana settled on top of her before kissing her soundly on the lips, morning breath be damned.

* * *

Quinn was finishing up the breakfast dishes in the kitchen as Puck sat at the table working on some paper work. Bringing work home was something that he tried not to do, but sometimes it was inevitable that it did happen. Luckily it was still pretty early in the morning which meant he would have all day to spend time with Quinn and Beth after Rachel and Santana left. All he knew about them coming over was them along with Quinn needed to talk to him about something. He had already promised that he wouldn't get mad before he listened to the whole story. For some strange reason he felt like this had something to do with Jasper, but one could never tell.

"They're here." Quinn said as she turned to look over her shoulder at Puck. He didn't say anything, just nodded and began to collect his papers to put them back in his leather brief case.

Quinn went to the door to let Rachel and Santana in as Puck went to put his stuff away in his office. He came back out a moment later and made a quick stop at Beth's bedroom door to make sure that she was still watching her movie. According to Quinn this was a conversation that Beth didn't need to be a part of and they would make sure she saw both of her aunt's before they left. Maybe they could have lunch or something, end a serious talk on a good note.

"What's going on ladies?" Puck asked as he made his way back into the kitchen where Rachel and Santana were already seated at the table with Quinn.

"Well." Rachel looked back and forth between Quinn and Santana. "We need to talk to you about Jasper."

Puck looked confused for a moment before he turned his head to look at Santana. "Did you beat him up or something? I knew you were going to chase after him at the dinner. What happened?"

Santana huffed and rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't beat him up. But it's not for a lack of trying. He is the nephew of Charles Porter."

"Porter...you mean?" Puck pointed his finger at Rachel who nodded. "How did you guys find this out?"

Quinn who had been quiet motioned for the paper that she knew Santana had brought with her. "I got suspicious of him when he kept asking about Rachel and Santana and he had mentioned that he had an uncle that was a lawyer so I checked up on him." Quinn pushed the piece of paper across the table so that Puck could see it. "Also Charles and that doctor that helped Conner escape were arrested yesterday."

"We think Jasper was sent here to...keep an eye on us."

"You mean stalk." Santana interrupted Rachel.

"Keep an eye on all of us." Rachel continued while shooting a glare at Santana.

"Wait..do you think I brought him here on purpose or something?" Puck jumped up out of his chair causing it to almost flip back.

"No honey! Puck sit down we aren't saying that all. We think someone pulled some strings to get him a running spot for your internship. Despite everything that's going on, the guy really is talented." Quinn tried to explain quickly, she had never seen such a hurt look on Pucks face before.

He looked at all the women warily. But come to think of it..."When I first announced that I was looking for interns I asked for a recommendation list of top students from music oriented colleges with some sample work. At the last minute Jasper's name was added and a guy was replaced. I just assumed the guy had dropped out of the running or had failed a class or something and was booted."

"I think him getting the internship was just a horrible coincidence and Charles took advantage of that when he found out. His background check was spotless and he had some of the best sample work we have ever seen." Quinn said as she opened Jasper's file that she had brought home from the office.

"I wish you guys had told me this sooner, he would be on his way home by now. Out of this town and away from Rachel." Puck sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "I want to fire him first thing in the morning."

"No! You can't do that." Rachel spoke up loudly.

"Why not?!" Puck asked incredulously. "If he is here to help them hurt you or anyone then I want him gone."

"That's what we are worried about. What if firing him sets him off? We just wanted to act like we don't know anything and see how he acts tomorrow. You know he has heard about his uncle getting arrested by now so there is a great chance that he is going to be off his game." Rachel explained. They needed a better plan than to just sit around and wait to see what happens next.

"So you want me to pretend that we know none of this. You want me to pretend that I don't know there is a chance that he could hurt someone?" Puck asked shocked.

"Basically. Just keep an extra eye on him and add a little more security around the building, because I know Rachel won't let me send one of Duncan's guys with her to work." Santana said.

"I don't need a baby sitter Santana. But I wouldn't mind someone checking on my dad a little more. Dad knew Ronald Adkins and since he is a part of this, Jasper could be keeping an eye on him as well." Rachel needed to call and check on Leroy in a little while. She had spoken to him momentarily when Santana was in the shower this morning, but he had no idea what all was actually going on.

"So the plan is this." Puck had been momentarily writing furiously on a piece of paper. "We all go about our business tomorrow like nothing is wrong. We keep an extra eye on Jasper to see if he says or does anything. I will get a security guy or two to kind of hang around close by and we just wait?"

"Waiting is the name of the game for now." Santana said as she nodded her head. Waiting...it was going to be hard not to corner Jasper and make him confess everything he knew.

* * *

**I know this was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but I was out of town for my nephew's birthday. I don't have any plans to go away again for a while, so posting shouldn't be interrupted in the near future.**

**Thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites and follows. :)**


	29. Guess Who's Back

Rachel woke up with the greatest idea ever for how to propose to Santana. It had literally came to her in a dream, which sounded completely silly but it was true. In the dream she and Santana were sitting together looking through old scrap books that they had put together and at the end of one, Rachel could see a mock wedding invitation asking Santana to marry her. It was the perfect idea and it fit Rachel's style to a T. Just ask her dad, he has all of her scrap books at his cabin. There were so many pictures that she and Santana had taken over the course of their relationship, pictures that they had yet to do anything with other than put a few in frames.

With the perfect idea in mind, Rachel settled back down into the bed next to Santana. Glancing at the clock she noted that it was only two in the morning. Santana hadn't stirred, even though she had practically popped out of the bed like a pop tart from a toaster. Rachel still had a few hours to sleep before she had to go into the studio. Hopefully things would go smoothly today, start with the tension of Jasper and his intentions, add in some Monday blues and this could be an extraordinary recipe for disaster.

* * *

Rachel was a little disappointed, she had been at the studio for roughly two hours now and Jasper was nowhere to be seen. He had apparently taken some time off to deal with what he told Puck was a "family emergency." No doubt he was in California trying to figure out how to get Charles out of jail or figure out what he was supposed to be doing. Even with him not being there, there was still an odd tension around the studio. Rachel hadn't had a chance to talk to Quinn yet because for some reason it felt like the blonde woman was avoiding her. Everything had seemed fine when Rachel had spoken to her on the phone but now that they were face to face, Quinn was literally darting around corners keeping her distance. Rachel frowned, she couldn't figure out what was going on, but it sucked to feel like you had done something but and you have no idea what it is.

Maybe she could corner Quinn and figure out what was going on at lunch. She could always call Santana and ask if Quinn had said anything to her, but why should she have to play telephone? If something was wrong Quinn should be able to come and talk to her about it. The whole day was becoming frustrating, at least in the studio with Joe and Sam, Rachel could release her frustrations into her music.

Speaking of music, Rachel was absolutely in love with the song that Joe had written. It was a slower pop song, almost a ballad but not really. Puck had already gathered some people to start putting together ideas for the video, which made Rachel even more excited about getting back into her music. It was hard work but it was fun and at the end of the day, Rachel wouldn't trade her career for the world.

* * *

Quinn walked into the cafeteria looking for Rachel, the woman had said she wanted to speak to her about something. Quinn was nervous, she was aware that Rachel knew she had been avoiding her all day but how in the world do you drop a bomb this size on someone. The bomb or well bombs were named Shelby Corcoran and Cassandra July, the new hush hush teachers that would be co-teaching at St. Lawrence Private in the fall.

Quinn didn't know all of the details, but she knew enough that this was something that Rachel would have trouble dealing with. Especially after the last fiasco that had happened when Shelby bulldozed into Rachel's life only to basically wave hi and then turn around and leave again.

* * *

_Rachel and Santana was having lunch at McKinley Diner, finally enjoying some much needed peace and quiet._

"The interview that came out today was the last one wasn't it?" Santana asked as she dipped a fry in ketchup.

Rachel, who was eating shrimp tacos, nodded her head as she wiped her mouth ridding it of any food particles. "Yeah for now. There might be some follow up articles in a few months or something but none right now. Tina said she would let me know since she approves everything."

As Santana listened to Rachel speak she could feel someone's eyes on her. Slowly turning her head to the right, Santana noticed a woman who actually looked like Rachel staring at them. The woman quickly turned her head away, well damn don't break your neck woman we already know you were staring. It wasn't a new thing to be stared at, it had started happening way more now that the Porter's were finally behind bars. Everyone loved people with stories and Rachel sure had a big one to tell.

Rachel noticed that Santana was glaring at someone across the diner. She followed her line of direction and gasped. Why was Shelby here? Yes, Rachel knew who her mother was, she just never chose to talk about the woman. The woman who had came into her life before and left when reality set in that Rachel wasn't a baby anymore. There was so much anger and resentment there that it used to eat Rachel up inside until one day she just stopped giving a damn, or so she thought. It still hurt, more often than not but Rachel had came to the conclusion that she had done nothing wrong and that Shelby was the one who had made the decision to stay away. If she couldn't deal with having a now grown daughter then Rachel could deal with not having a mother.

"Are you done eating?" Rachel asked, she had suddenly lost her appetite. She had to get out of here before Shelby could work up her own nerve and come over.

"Uh..no?" Santana looked at Rachel and then back down to her burger and fries. They had just sat down a few minutes ago and she was typically a slow eater. Only a third of her burger was gone! "Rachel, what's happening? Why are you gathering your things?" Santana was scrambling to try and get out of the booth before Rachel could take off out the doors.

"I need to get out of here." Rachel was breathing heavy as she looked across the diner at Shelby who had a pained expression on her face.

"Okay, well if you just give me a minute, I will get take out boxes and pay so we can go, okay?" Santana didn't mean to sound condescending but she had no idea what was going on. Rachel nodded her head once and glanced back over to Shelby, hoping with all her might that Shelby wouldn't follow her. "Here take the keys and I will be out in a second." Santana turned and went back to their table to get her keys and hand them off to Rachel. She waited a moment before she spun on her heel and walked straight over to Shelby who was in the process of standing up to leave.

Shelby took a moment to study the young woman who was stalking towards her. It was obvious she knew something and with the fiery look in her eyes, Shelby knew she was about to hear all about it. "Hello." Shelby tried to greet politely along with sticking out her hand and flipping her long hair over her shoulder.

"I didn't come over here to say hello." Santana sneered at Shelby's outstretched hand. "I want to know why my girlfriend just fled the diner when she saw you." She had caught all the glances that Rachel had been giving this woman. This woman who, now that Santana was face to face with her, looked so much like Rachel that she could be her...oh...oh wow.

"Because she hates me." Shelby murmured to herself.

"Because she what?" Santana took a defensive pose, crossing her arms over her chest. "No, you know what. I don't care. Keep your reasons to yourself and stay away. That woman out there has been through a hell of a lot of stuff that no one should have to deal with and she doesn't need some random staring at her." Santana had began gesturing wildly with her hands as she ranted.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry it won't happen again." Shelby put her hands up in surrender. Santana glared at Shelby hard before she gave her a dismissive nod and began to walk away. The woman was lucky that Rachel was waiting on her or she would have gotten more than just a verbal beat down. "Just...will you tell Rachel...that I am really sorry and that I couldn't stay away this time." Shelby didn't give Santana any time to respond as she walked quickly towards the exit.

Santana thought it would take longer for Rachel to open up about who Shelby was and why it had made her so upset to see her. But after Santana had gathered their food, she walked to the Jeep and climbed in letting the silence surround her before she attempted to open the can of worms.

"Rachel..."

"Can we go home please? I just really want to go home right now." Rachel said exasperatedly.

"We can go home...but are you going to tell me who that woman was? She told me to tell you that she was really sorry and that she couldn't stay away this time." Santana turned in her seat to face Rachel who just continued to look out of her window.

Santana saw Rachel crying before she heard her, her shoulders began shaking and a moment later the heart breaking sobs followed. Not really knowing what to do, Santana did the only thing she knew how, she reached across the console as best she could and gathered Rachel into her arms. Rachel only began to cry harder as she tried to explain that that was her mother and she must have came to find Rachel after seeing the news.

When Rachel was cried out, Santana had drove them home where the subject of Shelby hadn't been mentioned again until a few days later. Santana thought that Rachel had went out to meet Leroy for lunch and in a way she did, but Shelby was there too. Shelby knew she couldn't get to Rachel with Santana around so she went through Leroy. He wasn't much of a happy camper to see her either but as someone who now understood the pain of losing Rachel once, he couldn't be the one to deny Shelby a second chance.

This became one of the very reasons that Santana felt like Rachel was too trusting of people. Shelby had stuck around for a while and just when Rachel thought they could have a relationship, Shelby had to leave for work. The phone calls and visits became less frequent until they were non-existent. Distance and life had became a ground that they just couldn't find a middle on, being within close range was apparently the only way a relationship could work between Rachel and Shelby.

* * *

Now Quinn stood in the cafeteria ringing her hands together looking down at Rachel who was eating her lunch. Maybe blurting it out was the best place to start with something like this, or maybe deflection would work. Except, it wasn't fair to do this, in time Rachel would find out about Shelby and Cassie since she would definitely be going to see Beth perform.

Take a deep breath and just say it. Quinn mentally psyched herself up. "Shelby's back, her and Cassie are the new music and dance teachers at Beth's school."

Quinn grimaced as Rachel got strangled on her drink. Maybe blurting it out wasn't the best option to take.


	30. Stuck

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that." Quinn quickly walked around the table to pat Rachel on the back or do something to help clear her windpipe. "I just didn't know how to tell you and I thought, oh gosh you probably hate me now don't you?" Quinn was grabbing napkins left and right in any effort to help Rachel clean herself up.

"I'm okay." Rachel cleared her throat and coughed so that her voice wouldn't sound so gravely. "I think some of my water went up my nose though."

"I really am sorry." Quinn pulled out a chair and sat down next to Rachel.

"It's fine." Rachel waved Quinn's apologies off, she does the same thing all the time when she finds herself with something to say and no way to say it. Blurting always seemed to work to an extent. "So Shelby is back and she actually brought Cassie this time instead of keeping her out of the loop?"

Quinn nodded her head as she studied Rachel's face. There was a flicker of something in the shorter woman's eyes. "She uh..she asked about you."

"What did she say?" Rachel spoke softly, one part of her hoped that Shelby was going to try and make amends again. However another part of her wondered if amends was something that either of them could handle.

"She asked how you were, said that she seen your movie before she left London to come back here." Quinn chuckled. "Then she asked about Santana. She mentioned she had seen the announcement in a magazine. I think she might be here to stay for a while."

"Why do you think that?" Rachel asked confused.

"The teaching position was listed as a possible ten year if the first year works out. It's kind of a probation period, you know see what all they can teach the kids and stuff."

"Is this the reason you had been avoiding me all day?" Quinn looked sheepish as she nodded her head. "I thought I had done something wrong and you were upset with me or something."

"No, I just didn't know how to tell you any of this and then I figured "might as well go for it" when you asked if I could meet you here." Maybe it was the baby hormones, but Quinn could definitely tell that she was as Santana put it, going soft. Or maybe it was just the fact that delivering news like this to one of your best friends was hard.

"Thank you for telling me, I guess we will just wait and see if she comes around. Keeping up with any relationship is hard, but it's not worth it if she's not as committed or serious about staying this time around." Rachel gathered her lunch trash to throw away. Quinn didn't say anything else as she watched Rachel walk out of the cafeteria. She knew Rachel would need time to process and figure out what she might want to do.

* * *

Rachel knew she wouldn't be able to focus the rest of the day. After leaving the cafeteria, Rachel made her way back to the studio and gathered her things to head home early. Sam and Joe could tell that something was wrong and told her to go on home, they could finish the last bits for the song since they had all the vocals they needed now. Before leaving, Rachel made sure to stop by Quinn's office and leave a little note on her desk that she was leaving and would call her later. It would make Quinn feel better if she knew Rachel wasn't mad at her. Which really, she had no reason to be mad at Quinn. The whole situation was out of everyone's control expect for her and Shelby's of course.

Before Rachel headed home she had an idea that she just couldn't ignore. With the plan for her proposal still fresh in her mind from this morning, Rachel headed towards St. Lawrence. If she was going to put together a photo album then she was going to need an actual photo album and the best place to find one was at the art store in town. The place was huge and they carried everything that you could possibly need for arts and crafts. Really, the place was like Hobby Lobby on crack. Rachel kept her fingers crossed in hopes of finding a nice soft cover album, possibly leather. It would be great if she didn't have to order one, since she wanted to start on this project as soon as possible. Santana just wouldn't enjoy a flowery or stripe hard cover album. They were too cliche' or scrapbooky for something like this.

St. Lawrence was a busy little city for the most part and today everyone seemed to be out to a late lunch. Making her way through the traffic and seeming to be getting caught at every red light, Rachel wondered what Santana was doing. The list of possibilities could go on for quite some time considering Santana always found something to work on or do during the day. Hopefully Santana was finishing up her latest commissioned paintings, Rachel was super excited to see them once they were done. That was the one thing that Santana was very strict on, no one could see a painting until it was done unless it was Santana herself or the buyer asking for an update. Most of them didn't, they respected the way Santana worked but every once in a while there was a curious someone who just couldn't wait and asked for a sneak peak. Rachel decided she would call Santana once she had found the perfect album for her proposal.

* * *

Santana took pride in being able to do or fix anything around the cabin. It was the way her Abuelo' had done it and it was the way she was going to continue to do it. At the moment however...she was stuck...literally...on the roof. Rachel was going to kill her if she didn't fall off before Rachel got home that is. The morning had started off normal enough, taking the dogs out, feeding the chickens, going to check on the garden and routine maintenance around the cabin. This morning the routine maintenance involved checking the roof solar panels, no big deal. Santana had done it a thousand times by now and never had an issue. The ladder's screws must have been loose because as soon as Santana stepped onto the roof the ladder dropped, sliding into it's locking storage position. Santana was just lucky and thankful that she hadn't been standing on it when it happened. She was also thankful that when it collapsed it hadn't fell forward into a window.

Now, after going on ahead and finishing up checking the solar panels and cleaning them, Santana only had two options of getting down. The first option was climbing down the porch banisters which was harder than it looked. The porch was tall and let's face it, Santana was in no way tall, climbing could be disastrous. The second option was of course wait until Rachel came home, which wouldn't be for another three hours or so. How long had she been stuck on this damn roof already? The sun was doing things to her head. She could always yell for Duncan as loud as she could and hope he heard her. Was no one paying attention to the security cameras down there? Santana sighed as she sat down on the roof, bracing her feet so she didn't slide, she needed a better plan.

* * *

_This is Santana Lopez, leave your number and I might call back. BEEP_. Rachel rolled her eyes at the voice mail greeting. It didn't surprise her that Santana had never changed it. "This is a private number, no one but family and close friends should be calling it." That had been Santana's constant argument no matter how many times Rachel had tried to convince Santana that it was still rude no matter who called. Rachel wondered what Santana was doing, she usually always picked up or called right back when it was Rachel. In a moment of panic Rachel jumped into her car, dumping her purchases in the passenger seat before speeding off heading towards home. What if something was wrong or Santana was hurt? What if Jasper wasn't really out of town and had somehow got into the cabin and hurt Santana? Rachel's mind was a blur as she made her way through St. Lawrence to make it back to McKinley in record time.

When Rachel pulled up at the gates, she breathed at least one sigh of relief when she saw Duncan sitting in his little building. He had turned the place into a little palace, Rachel swears he spent more time in there than he did at home. Duncan smiled at Rachel as he came out of the door while she waited for the gates to open.

"They let you come home early today?" Duncan asked as he bent over and leaned in the passenger side window.

"Yeah, we finished early. Is Santana home?" Rachel gripped the steering wheel tighter, thinking it would make the gates open faster.

"She hasn't been down this way today, so she should be unless she's out at the garden or tree house or something. Oh before I forget, the security system has an update that needed to be installed, so before I leave tonight I will come up to the cabin and run through the checks to make sure everything is working." Duncan couldn't help but to get a little excited when it came to technology.

"Okay. I'll see you tonight then. I am going to see what Santana has gotten into today. She was supposed to be working." Rachel smiled and started to drive through the now open gates, they really needed to figure out a way to get them to open faster. Duncan grinned and nodded as he stepped away from Rachel's car after saying bye.

The first thing Rachel noticed as she pulled up in front of the cabin was the ladder laying in the yard. The second thing she noticed was the dogs laying beside said ladder and looking up at...Santana. Holy shit! Santana! Rachel turned her car off quickly and jumped out, running to the side of the house.

"SANTANA LOPEZ, WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

* * *

Santana gulped. Yep, she was in so much trouble. Even though she had done this alone plenty of times before, it was nice to know that someone really cared about the possibility of her getting hurt. If she wasn't already sweating profusely and desperate to get down, she might have laughed at how red Rachel's face was. But, you know she really didn't want to die today. Hence the reason she was still up here and hadn't tried to climb down.

"Hi honey...I was just checking the solar panels and stuff." Santana was staying a good distance away from the edge still, she didn't want to accidentally fall.

"Just...just checking the solar panels and stuff!? Get down here before you fall!"

"I need the ladder, but make sure you check the locks on it. That's the reason I am stuck up here in the first place!"

Rachel grumbled to herself as she picked up the ladder and attempted to stretch it back out to it's full height. For some reason it wasn't staying locked and that's when Rachel noticed that the locks had been filed down. "Santana..when was the last time you used this ladder in particular?" Rachel yelled.

"Uh...I don't know. It's been a while. Why?"

"The locks are almost shaved off. The ladder locks into place but there's nothing there to keep it locked. How in the world did you make it up there without it collapsing?"

"It collapsed as soon as I stepped off it." What in the hell had happened to her ladder? She hadn't used it in a while because she hadn't needed to and then she loaned it out...to Puck. Puck who had hired a decorating team for the big dinner. The same decorating team who ended up being short a ladder and Puck had brought that one. Oh hell...there was only person at that studio who was probably menacing enough to do something like this. "Rachel, call Duncan and have him come help you get my tree ladder out of the barn. Unfolding it halfway should get me down from here. I think I might know what happened to my ladder."


	31. Don't Fall

Jasper stepped off his plane as soon as it landed in Los Angeles. He had no idea if he could even see his uncle today or not, but he had to do something. There was no way he was going to be staying in McKinley with absolutely no idea about what was going on. He had seen the news exploding with the story about Charles and Ronald being captured, Jasper knew it was only a matter of time before they got caught anyway. While a very powerful man, Charles still wasn't the brightest crayon on in the box, he got too careless and tended to think he was above the law most of the time. I guess now he knew that money really couldn't fix everything because if it could he would already be out of jail. Hailing a cab outside of the airport, Jasper decided that he would go check into his hotel and then go about seeing if there was a way that he could visit his uncle. Maybe he would get lucky.

* * *

"Do you think Quinn has talked to Rachel?" Shelby Corcoran paced around the front living room of the house that she shared with her wife Cassandra July.

Cassie looked up from the box of small paintings that she was unpacking. "It's possible she has told her, she is like her manager or something now isn't she?"

"Manager, best friend, all of the above. Why did we agree to do this?" Shelby flopped down on the couch, covering her eyes with her right arm.

Cassie sighed as she brushed her hands down her jeans as she stood up to sit down next to Shelby. "Because it's a damn good paying job and you want a relationship with your daughter. Plus, we get to teach together, double the amount of children we can make cry." Shelby snorted, Cassandra July always the optimist. Cassie softened her tone as she took hold of Shelby's hand bringing it down off her eyes. "We're not getting any younger Shelby, it's time to make amends and work on this relationship. Being here is the only way to do that from past experience."

"I know, but what if she hates me now?" Shelby's eyes swam with unshed tears.

"I doubt she hates you. But I am not going to sugar coat it for you. It's going to take some time for her to come around and when she does there will be resentment and trust issues. Those are things you two are going to have to work on together. You're going to have to prove that you're not going to leave again."

"I'll do whatever it takes to prove myself to her. I'm just scared." Shelby leaned her head against Cassie's shoulder and began to play with the blonde woman's fingers.

"It's okay to be scared. We're going to fix this though." Cassie turned her head to play a kiss on Shelby's forehead. She hoped they could fix this, Shelby deserved to have her daughter back and Rachel deserved to have her mother.

* * *

Rachel stared blankly at Santana. What did she mean she knew who had messed with her ladder? Had Jasper done this? Was he more dangerous than they initially thought?

"Rachel. Hello? Rachel are you listening to me?" Santana scooted down to the edge of the roof so that she could get a better view of what Rachel was doing. The woman was just standing there staring up at her. "Rachel!"

Rachel looked around confused for a moment. She was supposed to be doing something, oh yeah. Call Duncan to get him to come help get Santana off the roof. Today was just full of ridiculous surprises, so many things were going wrong and Rachel was tired. "Uhm, hang on. I am calling him." Rachel turned in a circle looking for her purse. Did she even grab it out of the car? Nope, of course not! She ran to her car and fumbled around in the passenger seat looking for her phone when her eyes caught site of the leather book she had bought to turn into a picture album. She needed to hide that so Santana wouldn't see it.

After finally locating her phone and calling Duncan, Rachel walked back over to the side of the house. "He's on his way. Don't move."

"Where am I going to move to? Other than walking around on the roof of course." Santana rolled her eyes even though Rachel couldn't see it.

"Do not walk around on that roof Santana! Why are you even there without a harness anyway? You could have slipped and fell." The longer Rachel stood in the yard looking up the tenser her neck became.

"It was a quick job and I have never used a harness up here before. I know what I am doing. How was I supposed to know that the ladder was jacked up?"

"You didn't check it before you climbed up it?" Rachel stood with her hands on her hips.

"I did! It was locked and sturdy. The movement from climbing must have popped the locks since they are filed down. I'm glad you're here though, I don't know how long I would have been stuck up here since Duncan didn't seem to notice me up here."

"He can't notice you, the security system is down for an update at the moment. You're just lucky I came home early."

Santana pondered Rachel's words a moment. "Why _are_ you home early? I thought you were finishing Joe's song today."

Rachel looked down at the ground. Santana knew all about Shelby and everything that had happened in the past. She would not be happy that she was back. At least if she told her about Shelby now she wouldn't be able to do anything considering that she was still stuck on the roof. "Shelby's back. Her and Cassie are the new teachers at St. Lawrence Private."

"What!?" Santana screeched as she slid forward a bit, momentarily letting her guard down.

"Santana!"

"I'm okay!" Santana slid back on the roof so that she wasn't so close to the edge. "Has Shelby tried to contact you yet?" Santana asked after she had gained her composure.

"No, she has talked to Quinn at Beth's orientation thing though. I don't know if I want to talk to her or not."

"That's your decision babe. I will support you either way, I can't promise that I won't saying anything if I see her though." Santana shrugged her shoulders and grinned sheepishly.

Rachel shook her head with a small smile. She expected nothing less from the one and only Santana Lopez. She had heart and she had fire and she wasn't afraid to use either in certain situations. Before Rachel could ask Santana about her ladder again, Duncan pulled up on his golf cart, slamming on his brakes when he noticed Santana sitting on the roof.

"What are you doing up there?" Duncan asked as he came to stand beside Rachel. The only thing he knew was that Santana was stuck on the roof and they needed his help with the other ladder.

"Enjoying the view." Santana responded sarcastically.

Duncan rolled his eyes and decided not to reply. He knew he was going to get a sarcastic answer as soon as he said anything. He just never learned. "Where's the other ladder?"

"It's hung up on the back wall in the barn. Just make sure you check it to make sure it locks. I don't want to take any chances even though I know no one has been in there except us."

"Alright, will do. Now don't go anywhere." Duncan said casually as he turned to walk towards the barn. Santana grumbled under breath. If she had something to throw she would totally peg him in the back of the head.

It took twenty minutes before Duncan set the ladder up so that Santana could climb down. To hear her tell it though it took hours upon hours. Once she was on safe ground she heaved a sigh of relief. Except, Rachel didn't really look too happy with her at the moment, maybe she should have stayed on the roof a while longer.

"No more climbing on the roof unless someone else is home and you have on a harness." Rachel stated with authority leaving no room for Santana to argue. Really she didn't feel like arguing at the moment, she would gladly stay on the ground until she had to go back up there.

Both of the women waved bye to Duncan as he made his way back down to his post at the gate. The tech guy that was coming should be here any minute now and Santana really wanted to talk to Rachel about everything that was going on. First they had to deal with Jasper and now Shelby and Cassandra.

"Earlier you mentioned that you knew who had messed with your ladder. Do you think it was Jasper?" Rachel asked as she wrapped her arm around Santana's waist. They were now making their way back into the cabin to just sit down and rest a moment before the day got away from them anymore.

"I loaned that ladder to Puck who then took it to the studio. Who else in the world would have done something like that?" Santana said as she sat down at the kitchen island. She wasn't going to mention it but she needed to sit down and take a breather. Rachel hadn't noticed it, but she had been shaking since she had came down off the roof. Yeah, she had been scared shitless when she almost fell.

Rachel walked over to the fridge to grab two bottles of water. "Its just...if he done it, who did he actually intend to hurt? You know. How would he have known that ladder was yours and not Pucks? Was his intentions for Puck to climb on it and get hurt or did he want someone else that was working there to get hurt? There's no indication that that ladder belongs to anyone."

"I don't know, but I am going to work with you in the morning so that I can talk to Puck." Santana took a drink of water from the bottle that Rachel had opened and sat down in front of her. "Now about Shelby being back. What all did Quinn say?"

Rachel shrugged her right shoulder as she picked at the label on her water bottle. "Nothing really, just that Shelby and Cassandra were the new teachers at the school and that Shelby had asked about me. Apparently they went and seen my movie before they came back. She asked about you too, said she had seen the engagement announcement."

Santana stretched out her arm across the island and laid her head down. She was going to have a major headache soon, she could feel it coming on. "Did she have a number that you could reach Shelby at if you wanted to?"

Rachel shook her head, she hadn't even thought to ask Quinn about a number. She assumed she had some way of contacting the woman since she would be one of her daughters teachers. "I think...I think I might ask if she has Shelby's number. I don't think I want to go see her yet or anything, but what would calling hurt? Yeah..I think I would maybe like to talk to her just to test the waters."

Santana stretched her hand out to grab Rachel's and give it a squeeze. "I will be here with you every step of the way."

Rachel smiled as she turned Santana's hand over so that they were palm to palm. "Thank you."


	32. Sharing The Plan

It had been a week since the ladder incident and Jasper still hadn't came back from California. Santana had went into work with Rachel that morning after, which didn't help much considering there were no witnesses against Jasper and his little file. However, they did come up with a plan for when Jasper did eventually came back, well Santana had came up with a plan. At the moment she had no desire to share said plan, someone would just try to stop her and it would end in a fight.

Rachel still hadn't found the nerve to call Shelby, but she did have her number. Every time Rachel picked up her phone with the intention of calling Shelby, she always chickened out. It's harder than it looks to call your estranged mother. On a positive note, Conner had been brought back from California and he was now in "the hole" right were he wanted to be. As of right now the whole ordeal seemed to be over, at least until Jasper came back.

* * *

Santana sat parked in front of the police station, this would be the first time that she had seen Sue since she escorted Conner back across the country. Santana was going to find out what was going on with Ronald and Charles now that they had been in jail for a little over a week now. Hopefully Sue would have plenty of answers for her.

Climbing down out of her jeep, Santana made her way down the sidewalk towards the front of the police station. Kitty and Bree where coming out of the front doors.

"Satan." Kitty nodded her head in greeting.

Santana rolled her eyes before she responded. "Is Chief Sylvester in or am I going to have to go hunt her down?"

"She's in her office." Bree answered so that Kitty couldn't respond sarcastically. She was hungry and she didn't have time to watch these two go at each other. Bree grabbed Kitty by the arm and began to practically drag her across the parking lot towards their patrol car.

Santana watched them a moment, those two were as thick as two thieves. Sue loved having them both as her lead officers and she also loved to pit them against each other. Watching them go head to head at their physical fitness tests each year was like Christmas morning for the woman. The thing they were competing for? A little silver pin for the collar of their uniform that oddly resembled a pompom. Santana shook her head as she turned to step into the police station. Becky was sitting behind her desk dutifully like she always was, before Santana could even tell her she was here to see Sue, Sue came out of her office.

"Lopez, so nice of you to finally come to see me." Chief Sylvester spread her arms out as she did a twirl while she walked towards Santana.

"Yeah, yeah. I've been busy. So sue me."

"I might, just for wasting my time." Sue stuck her nose in the air as she turned around to walk back to her office. The silent command for Santana to follow her with no objections. Santana sighed and dropped her head as she followed Chief Sylvester with her arms crossed over her chest.

* * *

Rachel sat on the floor of the loft surrounded by pictures. It looked like she was about to attempt a seance. After Santana had left to go to town, Rachel had began searching for every storage container of pictures she could find. Luckily, most of them were in the closet in the guest bedroom. Rachel had forgotten just how many pictures they had taken over the span of three years.

There were pictures of Rachel at various news stations talking about her album, there were pictures of Santana at her first art show. Pictures of them that friends had taken when no one was looking. That was just the tip of the ice burg, there were hundreds of pictures from vacations and trips to London and Paris, who took this many pictures? Santana and Rachel obviously. Rachel was the kind of person who liked to document things and even with so many pictures already to choose from, she would be adding more to the collection today. She had sent off for the pictures taken at her welcome home party to be developed. That was the first day that Dahlia came into their lives and she definitely needed to go in the album along with Dax. Speaking of the little devils, they both were laying on their respective beds just watching Rachel sort through pictures. They should really get out more, they were kind of becoming lazy dogs.

Rachel gathered the stacks of pictures that she had already sorted through and laid to them to side. These were definitely going in the photo album. Now she was tasked with picking up and putting all of these other pictures back before Santana got home and seen them. If she got caught she could always lie and say that she was just looking, but Santana was pretty good at seeing though her. Rachel sighed as she worked to put all the pictures back and gather the containers.

"Come on dogs. Let's go outside and wait on Santana to get home." Rachel smiled as both dogs jumped up to follow her downstairs where she went to put the pictures back in the closet.

* * *

"So you mean to tell me that the prison wasn't able to decode anything useful out of the letters?" Santana sat shocked at what Chief Sylvester was telling her.

"They were only able to gather the information that we already know. The most they could gather was directions on how Conner should escape and who would help him. There was nothing about Charles hiding Ronald out." Sue sorted through some papers that were laying on her desk. She wished these Porter men would fall off the face of the Earth so she didn't have to deal with them anymore.

"That means that Conner escaped for no damn reason other than to drop off a back pack! A back pack that was only needed because Ronald couldn't get it quick enough?! This is all such bull shit Sue!" Santana yelled as she rubbed her face with both of her hands.

"First off, you need to calm down. You can't find something that doesn't exist. Obviously Conner was supposed to do something else and he didn't. None of those men are talking and there has been no evidence found that would suggest they have any plans to do anything." Sue spoke calm and collectively, she knew Santana was worked up but her hands were tied for now. "Tell me more about this Jasper character. He may be our next target in all of this."

"No, no no no. You can't make him a target, at least not yet." Santana shook her head and hands frantically.

"Why not? If he knows something and he is as breakable as you think he is, we could solve all of this in the next few days."

"That's the point, he is breakable and we want to break him." Santana smirked devilishly. "Plus, I think he ruined my ladder and he has a crush on my fiancee, I want to pound his face for that."

"Why are _you _so determined to break him?" Sue asked as she narrowed her eyes at Santana. She had knew this woman since she was little, she had watched her grow up and Sue knew first hand the trouble Santana could cause. This just seemed out of Santana's league though and that really worried her.

"When Rachel showed up on my doorstep that first night, she had already been hurt. I couldn't protect her from that. I kept her safe the only way I knew how. I had to sit back and let everyone else go after those men because I needed to care for her. Rachel is a damn strong woman who I know now can take care of herself. But she is going to be my wife and I refuse to let anyone hurt her again. I would put my life on the line to protect her from this shit again."

"You almost died las-"

"Don't. It's been three years, let the wreck go. There was no way we could have known they would come racing down Puck's road." Santana knew that Sue still had some bitterness over the wreck. Yes, if she hadn't of been trying to get Rachel to Puck's, they never would have been hit. But that wreck put both Porter men in jail and brought it all to an end, it was a horrible string of events that they were lucky had a good outcome.

"I'm sorry." Sue was actually being sincere which rarely happened. "Are you going to tell me how you plan to break Jasper or am I going to have to guess?"

"Well we pretty much have it figured out that he is taking orders from Charles. Without Charles around, Jasper is going to be lost. We know he is in Los Angeles probably trying to figure out what to do. When he comes back, he is either going to act normal or he is going to come in and go straight through with some plan to hurt someone since he is their last pawn in the game. We're going to be around every corner he turns, he won't have a chance to hurt anyone. Let's just say I am going to stalk my stalker, shake him up a bit."

"Who all knows about this plan?" Sue really wasn't sure what to say to all of that.

"No one really yet. I just came up with it. I'm going to get Duncan to get some of his guys to follow Jasper, let him see them every once in a while. Make him paranoid. Then I am going to follow him, he already knows I am after him. It will really mess with his head if he sees Rachel stalking him."

"You do realize you are telling a sworn office of the law that you're gathering a large stalking group?" Sue asked.

"No, I am telling my aunt who supports me even when I mess up and needs to be put back on the right track." Santana looked at Sue with something akin to pride in her eyes. Sue had always been a permanent fixture in her life when her Abuelo was alive. Santana would have called her Abuela but Sue would have probably murdered her.

"Okay, everything we talked about has been off the record anyway. I am still going to investigate Jasper, but I can only do so much without bringing him in and getting warrants."

"Do your thing, I'm going to keep doing mine. I need to go, I was supposed to pick up lunch for me and Rachel about ten minutes ago." Santana said as she began to stand up and stretch.

"Fair enough, but you know, you're playing with fire here don't you? Jasper could turn on all of you when he gets back and you won't even have a chance to confront him." Sue asked as she watched Santana begin to walk towards her office door.

"Abuelo always said I had pyromatic tendencies." Santana shrugged her shoulders as the office door closed behind her. Now she had to rush to the diner to pick up some lunch for her and Rachel. It was Saturday and McKinley diner was always packed on the weekends. The food should just be getting done when Santana walked through the door and Rachel would never know she had stopped to talk to Sue. Well she wouldn't know until Santana told her, which she had to since Rachel, who wouldn't approve, was going to be involved.


	33. Always With You

Rachel stared at the folded piece of paper laying on her nightstand. It had been taunting her for a few days now. Santana would be back with lunch in a few minutes and Rachel was sure she would lose her nerve if she didn't do this now. After putting the pictures of her and Santana back into the closet, Rachel had grabbed an old shoe box that she liked to keep old mementos in. She hadn't looked in this box in years, it moved from place to place never being opened.

Preparing herself for an onslaught of emotions, Rachel sat down on the bed and slowly removed the shoe box lid. The daunting piece of paper that held Shelby's number could wait. Immediately she began to tear up, the majority of items in the box had been given to her in some form from her Daddy when he was alive. A stack of birthday cards sat on the top, each one special with a personalized letter from her fathers. Her Daddy's letter was always longer, he could be a man of many words when he wanted to be. Mixed in with the birthday cards were a few letters from Shelby that Rachel had decided to keep when she and Shelby tried to reconnect the first time around. Most of the pictures that she had of her and her Daddy were kept in photo albums, except for the last one Rachel had ever taken with him. It was a photo from the night that he passed away, taken right before the show had started. Rachel ran her finger over Hiram's smiling face. He was so proud and happy to finally be there and then it all came to an abrupt halt.

Rachel tried to control her tears as she laid the photo to the side. This box was full of so many things that held so many memories. A silver dollar that Hiram had given her after she lost her first baby tooth. A movie stub from her first big girl movie. She had put it in plastic years ago so that it wouldn't get ripped. Most people would find it silly to keep stuff like this, but Rachel cherished every piece that was in the box. Wiping her face with the back of her hand, Rachel began to put the stuff away. That was enough looking in the shoe box for today, maybe eventually she could bring herself to reread all the letters, but that day wasn't today.

* * *

Santana came walking in the front door just as Rachel was walking out of the guest bedroom. Rachel internally sighed, thankful that she had thought to hid the photo album and pictures before coming down stairs. She smiled at Santana as she made her way across the living room to wrap Santana in a hug, ignoring the food bags.

"Not that I don't love your hugs, but are you okay?" Santana asked as she tried to balance her full hands without dumping anything down Rachel's back.

"I just needed a hug from you, that's all. Can I have a kiss too?" Rachel looked up at Santana with a doe eyed expression. Santana could tell that Rachel had been crying but apparently at the moment wasn't the right time to talk about it.

"Baby, you never have to ask for a kiss." Santana tilted her head forward and connected her lips with Rachel's. The saltiness from her tears still lingered. "Let's go get this food out, because I am a starvin' marvin."

Rachel turned and led the way into the kitchen, walking to the cabinet's to grab some plates and glasses. "Are you going to tell me why you are super late with the food?"

"It's the weekend, McKinley is always super busy." Santana's eyes flickered around the kitchen.

"Yes, but you were super late. Where else did you go?" Rachel asked as she sat down a plate and glass in front of Santana before turning around to grab forks.

"If I tell you where I was, you have to tell me why you were crying."

Rachel stopped reaching for one of the food bags to empty its contents. She should have went and cleaned her face off better. "That...sounds like a fair deal. But you are going first."

"Ugh, fine. I went and saw Sue. I wanted to know if she had found out anything else since she had been home. You know, maybe something that she couldn't tell us over the phone?" Santana propped her head up on her hand, resting her elbow on the kitchen island.

"Well? Did she?" Rachel asked as she shoveled a spoonful of chili into her mouth. This stuff was amazing, but Santana's was better.

"No. She said without them talking they were at a stand still. The letters they sent to each other in the jail didn't contain anything after how to get Conner out. It was a complete fluke. I also may have mentioned some plans to scare Jasper." Santana began to empty out the food bag that had remained untouched in front of her.

"What kind of plans Santana? I thought we agreed to just let him be when he comes back?"

"Yeah, I am not just going to let him be knowing that he is most likely the one who messed with my ladder." Santana responded, not looking at Rachel as she scraped some rice onto her place.

"Okay, I get that. But even after talking to Puck, you still aren't one hundred percent sure it was Jasper who done it. This was the first time anything remotely bad has happened and like I said before Jasper couldn't have known that that ladder was yours."

"Why are you defending him so hard right now Rachel?" Santana narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know." Rachel spoke quietly as she dragged her spoon along the surface of her chili bowl. She dropped the spoon into the bowl, watching it slowly sink. Rachel blew a piece of hair out of her face as she rubbed her hands along her purple joggers. "I think I see a lot of myself in him. I know he is part of the whole Porter clan and there's a chance he will try and hurt one of us when he comes back, I actually think he's too scared to, but there's something about him. When I first started on Broadway, I knew that's where I belonged. I had known since I was three, but I still fell short when it came to fitting in and making friends. I've told you all of this before, when I wasn't at work I was home alone. It sucks to be in a new city filled with people and feel all alone. Instead of scaring him...I want to help him. You know as well as I do that he is being manipulated by Charles."

Santana sat shocked as she listened to Rachel go on about Jasper. She wanted...to help..him? Really?! She could get upset and yell or she could actually listen to what Rachel was saying. "I'm still going through partially with my plan though."

"What do you mean by partially?" Rachel turned on her stool to face Santana, sliding forward so that her knees where pressed into Santana's thighs.

"I'm going to follow and have him followed when he gets back into town. He needs to be under watch so that he doesn't try to do anything. We will always be one step ahead of him."

Rachel tilted her head as she contemplated that. "I can be on board with that and we are going to talk to Puck again about checking security tapes. Just to make sure that Jasper was the one who did mess with your ladder."

"And I can be on board with that. Now are you going to tell me why you were upset when I came home?"

"I think I want some crackers to go with my chili. Do you we still have any of those little oyster crackers?" Rachel stood up and rushed to the pantry. Yes, she was trying to deflect, of course it would never work.

"Rachel..." Santana sighed as she turned on her stool to follow Rachel's movements. "We don't have to talk about it now, but we made a deal."

Rachel halted her movements and rested her head against the pantry door. "I was going to call Shelby today, but then I started going through my memory box. You know the one that has stuff in it from my Daddy, I miss him so much." Rachel closed her eyes as tears began to threaten to fall once again.

Santana was up in a flash wrapping her arms around Rachel's torso. She placed a kiss on the back of Rachel's head and just held her. There wasn't much that you could say in moment's like this. _I'm sorry_ or _it's okay_, wouldn't bring him back and wouldn't curb that constant ache that Rachel would feel for the rest of her life. "I think...that we should go see him soon. You haven't been back there in ages now." Santana turned her head to rest her cheek on the back of Rachel's head.

Rachel turned her head slightly. "You mean fly to Ohio? Visit his grave?" Santana didn't say anything, she just nodded her head. "I can't go without Dad."

"That's okay, we can ask Leroy to go too. It might do some good just to get out of here for a while." Santana turned Rachel around and grabbed her hand to lead her back to the island. "No matter what happens though, you need to finish eating and so do I." Santana turned Rachel's stool around for her, which was the equivalent of pulling out her chair, chivalry was not dead.

"I think I want to call Shelby this evening, but I don't want to do it alone." Rachel looked over to Santana to gauge her reaction.

"You never have to do anything alone that you don't want to. You're going to be my wife at the end of this year, you're kind of stuck with me." Santana grinned cheekily. "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." Leaning over, Santana planted a kiss on Rachel's lips.

"I also want to ask you something." Rachel reached over to take one of Santana's hands into her own. "Will you read my memory box letters with me?" She wasn't sure what had prompted her to ask, but something about it just felt right. If Santana was willing to drop everything and take a trip to Ohio with her, then she deserved to see at least some of the things in the box.

Santana sat speechless. She knew about the memory box, she knew that it was filled with personal things from Hiram, but she never expected Rachel to ask her to go through it with her. "Are you sure about this Rachel? That box is sacred to you."

Rachel gave Santana a small smile. This was one of the reasons that Rachel felt it was right to share the box with Santana. She had never questioned Rachel to see the box, she just knew about it. "Like you said, you're going to be my wife and I want to share those things with you."

"Okay, whenever you're ready we can go through it together and I will sit down with you when you call Shelby." Santana smiled back at Rachel who continued to hold her hand as she ate with the other. Not much had been resolved today, but at least progress to move forward in their lives had been made. That was a feat within itself.


	34. No Welcome Back

Rachel walked into work the following Monday and was shocked at who she seen sitting at the conference room table with Joe and Brock. Why in the hell hadn't anyone warned her that Jasper was back? Yes, Jasper who had mysteriously disappeared two weeks ago was now back and he was grinning as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't even his creepy grin, it was actually a soft smile. Rachel smiled back, but she was sure it came out as more of a grimace.

"Good morning guys." Rachel greeted them. She had to keep repeating _stay_ _calm_ in her head. Pretend that everything was fine. When Puck and Quinn joined everyone in the conference room, they both entered like nothing was wrong. Apparently they had both had time to get their poker faces on. Rachel sighed internally and leaned back in her chair as she listened to Puck go over everything that they needed to get done for the week.

* * *

Santana was contemplating doing something that could really blow up in her face. It was super wrong in so many ways. Rachel had already left for work when Santana spotted Shelby's number still laying on Rachel's night stand. Santana bit her lip, she was doing this because she loved Rachel. It had been a little over two weeks now and Santana could tell every time that Rachel stared longingly at that phone number that she wanted to call Shelby. Her fingers twitched in anticipation of picking up that number and calling Shelby herself. I mean it wasn't like she was going to meet the woman or anything, she just wanted to help both of them and give them that little extra push.

_No, don't do it. They need to do this themselves._ Santana thought to herself as she turned over in the bed and stared out of the large loft window. Maybe her heart was in the right place but there was a time when pushing too hard could cause more damage than good. Santana really didn't want to do any more damage. Just let them do it, it was a hard thing to do, but it had to be done.

Santana tossed back the covers on her bed and slid out, stretching her back out. Her latest commissioned paintings were ready to be sent out today and the dogs were already patiently waiting for her. Time to get her morning officially started.

* * *

Rachel sat with her back straight as she listened to Puck go over everything that they needed to get done this week and holy hell was it a lot. Joe's music video was set to start filming tomorrow and inbetween that, Rachel was to start recording Jasper's song. Turns out that was one of the main reasons that he was back. Puck had called and told him that he needed to come back at least for a little while so they could move on with the music. Rachel was still pissed as to why no one had informed her of this. Sure she and Santana had had a busy weekend, but it wasn't too busy that they couldn't have been kept in the dark.

After the meeting was over, Rachel waited until almost everyone left before she cornered Quinn. Quinn whom was moving slower than usual, she knew Rachel wanted to talk from her body language or maybe the death glare she was getting. She waited for Rachel to say something. When she still hadn't said anything, Quinn lowered her bag back to the table and sat down.

"I know you're upset that no one warned you, but honestly I just didn't have the time. I didn't know he was here until a moment before you walked through the door." Quinn looked at Rachel a little pleadingly.

Rachel sighed, she couldn't really keep up her facade for very long. "Puck didn't tell you before he called him?"

Quinn shook her head, she had been livid at Puck when he had dropped the Jasper bomb on her this morning. She had had every intention of calling Rachel and letting her know, but she was already running around doing a thousand things. It was too late by the time Rachel came in the door. "He hasn't said anything either, just apologized for being gone for so long."

"He better not say anything or try anything. Santana already has this plan to stalk him basically." Rachel was glaring out of the conference room window as if Jasper was just on the other side.

"What do you mean stalk him?" Quinn raised one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"I mean exactly what it sounds like. Once she knows that he is back she is going to gather up a group to keep an extra close eye on him. She thinks he is standing on a ledge and that she can push him off of it." Rachel ran her fingers along her bag, looking for the zipper.

"I would ask if she realizes how dangerous that could be, but I am going to assume she already knows and just doesn't care." Yes, Quinn was being critical but she has known Santana for years and sometimes the woman just didn't think.

"Of course she cares, but this is Santana we are talking about here. That woman would bend over backwards to protect any one of us. If this is the only way she knows how to do that at the moment, then who am I to stop her? I am just going to do my best to protect her too even if she claims she doesn't need to be protected." Rachel stood up and walked out of the conference room. She had work she needed to get done so that she could clear up some space to go to Ohio and work on her proposal for Santana. There was no way she was going to let Quinn start attacking Santana and the way she went about doing things. Rachel understood that Santana could be a little careless at times, they all were, but that didn't mean that Quinn got to be the person to point that out.

* * *

Jasper stood to the left and around the corner of the conference room door where he couldn't be seen. Yes, he had been standing there for a while and yes he had heard everything that Rachel and Quinn had been talking about. The doors in this place weren't nearly as thick as everyone thought they were.

So they thought they were going to keep an eye on him? They had another thing coming, they couldn't keep an eye on him if he disappeared again until he could figure out what to do. His time spent in Los Angeles had been a bust. Everyday he was allowed to visit, he was the first one at the jail waiting to see his uncle. It didn't do much considering there were ears around at all times and his uncle wasn't going to risk spilling anything that he knew. Charles was still trying to say that he had no idea that Ronald had been hiding out at his beach house, the police where still trying to collect evidence that said otherwise.

Jasper had a decision to make, he could stay here and formulate a plan while still working or he could go back to California and formulate a plan without interruptions. There was only one problem, if he left again, chances are he was going to have to quit the internship and honestly he didn't want to do that. Puck had told him that he needed him to come back and work for a while, but he didn't specify just how long that was. It could be weeks or months before he made it back to California and then it would all be too late by then. However, his uncle never said what sort of time frame he wanted to do all of this in, hell his uncle hadn't even said really what he wanted to do to the Berry family. He just wanted revenge for his wife. That whole story was still a mess and a half. Jasper knew his aunt was sick and that visiting Hiram Berry was a shot in the dark that they all decided to take.

Right now, he could not worry about all of this. He had to worry about getting back in Pucks good graces before anything could happen. If Santana wanted to keep tabs on him, then she could. It was only fair since he had been keeping tabs on her, Rachel and Leroy since he got here. She wasn't going to find anything though, he knew better than to get caught now especially after the reaming that he had received the first time he had told his uncle about following them. He didn't want that to happen again. Jasper sighed as he moved away from the wall and made his way down the hallway, there was some music that needed his attention for now.

* * *

Santana struggled to get both dogs inside of her jeep. Her mind had completely spaced about the fact that both dogs had vet appointments today for checkups. Dahlia seemed to be more excited than anything, she just liked to ride in the car. Dax always knew what was happening when his master gave him a bath with a sympathetic look before they left the cabin. Dax looked over at Dahlia who was trying to bite her seat belt, the tiny dog had no idea what was happening, boy was she in for a rude awaking.

Successfully strapping both dogs into their seat belts, Santana made her way around the jeep and climbed in. Her morning had been going smoothly until she looked at the calender to mark some new commissions that had came in. That was when her eyes had almost bugged out of her head and she had to scramble to get both dogs ready in time to leave. They were cutting it close, but hopefully they would make it. She would have to call Rachel when she arrived at the vet to let her know that she wouldn't be home until later. Maybe she would meet her in St. Lawrence and they could get some dinner in town and go to the park and have a picnic. That would be great, as long as neither dog got sick from any possible shots that they might have to have. Dax was all caught up on his according to Santana's record, but who knows what could have been added to his chart since the last time he was here.

Santana glanced back in the rear view mirror once again to check on Dax and Dahlia. Both were laying down in the back seat looking dejected. Santana guessed that Dax had somehow conveyed the message about the vet to Dahlia who was no longer excitedly sticking her nose against the window. Ew, now Santana had clean little puppy nose prints off her window.

She pulled into the parking lot of St. Lawrence Animal Clinic and turned off the jeep before climbing out to get the dogs. With the new trouble of the dogs not wanting to get out of the car, Santana never saw the blonde woman watching her from inside the clinic. Dax and Dahlia were showing their true colors completely as Santana escorted them very slowly towards the front door. The woman who had been watching decided to take a seat, she was waiting to pick up her kitten who had been there since earlier in the morning. Santana walked towards the front desk so that she could sign in Dax and Dahlia. Imagine her surprise when she turned around and saw the significant other of the very woman she had to restrain from calling this morning.

"Cassandra? What are you doing here?" Santana asked incredulously as she stood with both dogs now hyper alert to their surroundings. They could feel the tension that had set into their master.

"It's nice to see you too Santana." Cassandra crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back in the plastic chair she was sitting in, tossing her arm over the back of the empty chair next to her.


	35. Please Explain

"No..seriously. What are you doing here?" Santana asked again, standing in the middle of the lobby. She refused to sit down at this moment.

Cassie rolled her eyes as she turned more towards Santana. "It's a vet, why do you think I am here?"

"Waiting on Shelby since she is a bitch you know." Santana responded casually as she walked over to wall, left of Cassie, to sit down in a chair.

"You better watch yourself Lopez, that is my wife you are talking about." Cassie sneered.

"Yeah well, your wife likes to treat her daughter, which is my fiancee like shit. I just calls it likes I sees it." Santana shrugged her shoulders and turned her head to look around the waiting room. She wondered if Shelby really was here.

"You know your fiancee knows how to read, write and pick up a telephone just as well as Shelby does. She could have just as easily called and their whole relationship could have been saved." Cassie wasn't going to sit here and let all the blame be put on Shelby.

Santana whipped her head around, shooting daggers from her eyes at Cassie. She leaned forward in her chair speaking in a low heated whisper. "Don't you dare put the blame for this on Rachel. That woman was still struggling with everything that had happened to her during that time. She needed her mother who happened to be too busy for her once London came calling. There were days that Rachel called five or six times a day, only for Shelby to brush her off saying she would call back and never did. Rachel asked about visiting and Shelby brushed her off again saying that she was too busy and she wouldn't have time to visit because of her work schedule. For any type of relationship to work there has to be effort on both ends and Shelby wasn't doing her part. A person can only be let down so many times before they finally decide they have had enough disappointment. So no, you don't get to place blame where it definitely doesn't belong."

Cassie leaned back in her chair a little stunned. She had no idea that it had been that bad and that Shelby had been brushing Rachel off like that. Why didn't she know this? She could have done something to help prevent this all from happening in the first place. Cassie was under the impression that once Shelby had left, they had just let the distance become too much. "I had no idea." Cassie whispered more to herself than Santana.

_Mrs. July._ The veterinarian stood next to the sign in desk, with a kitten carrier in his hand. He smiled when Cassie stood up. She paused for a moment and looked down at Santana who was sitting there brooding. She reached into her purse to pull out a piece of paper and write her number on it. "I know you don't care for me and frankly I can't stand you that much either, but...it wouldn't hurt to get together and maybe try and help Shelby and Rachel. If you're up for it that is."

Santana looked at the piece of paper as if it was a bomb that was about to go off. She knew she should really stay out of this, but apparently a lot of wires had been crossed over the years and maybe it wouldn't hurt to try and help uncross some of them. "Yeah, I will uh call you sometime. I am only going to do this for Rachel though." Santana said as she reached out to take the number.

"I'm only doing this for Shelby." Cassie said as she turned around to speak to the vet and pick up her kitten so that she could go and pick up Shelby from the sushi place down the block and then head home.

Santana sat there for a moment thinking about what had just happened as she watched Cassie walk out of the door. She could have sworn there was about to be a fight, except the way that Cassie had acted told Santana that someone hadn't shared the whole story. Rachel at the time hadn't been that willing to share the whole story either, it was by accident that Santana had seen all the calls on Rachel's phone that had went unanswered or only lasted two or three minutes.

_Ms. Lopez. _Santana smiled at the vet as she got up to walk Dax and Dahlia into the office. Maybe she and Cassie could work something out to help Rachel and Shelby or maybe this would all go horribly wrong. Only time would tell.

* * *

"Are you guys ready to go get some lunch?" Sam asked as he leaned back in his large leather chair and rubbed his stomach.

"I think I will head to the cafeteria and grab something there." Rachel responded as she gathered her things to head in that direction.

"Just remember no dairy, you have to sing again in a little while." Sam shouted at Rachel's back. Rachel chose to ignore that statement, she was well aware just what dairy could do to her voice. It wasn't like it was a huge issue considering she hardly every had dairy anyway. Rachel paused momentarily in the hallway to make sure that Jasper hadn't followed her, after being stuck in a studio with him for roughly four hours, she didn't want to see his face right now.

Everything had been fine while they were working, Sam never left her alone with him. She assumed that Puck had filled him in on a need to know basis. It was still a bit of a struggle to pretend that everything was fine. Rachel had to control her urges to jump every time Jasper spoke or got too close to her, she needed to reign that in so that it wouldn't become obvious. She couldn't say it enough that she hoped that all of this would be over soon before anyone got hurt.

As Rachel got closer to the cafeteria she pulled out her phone to see that she had a couple of text messages from Santana. She was maybe going to be late tonight depending on how long the dogs vet appointments took and she was asking if Rachel wanted to just meat her in St. Lawrence. Shit, Rachel though to herself, she had completely spaced about that too. Awh, but on the bright side they could take the dogs to the park and have a picnic. It felt like they hadn't done anything like that in a while now. There was a text from Leroy letting Rachel know that when she was ready he would book their tickets to Ohio. That trip may not be happening for a while considering how far they were behind on Jasper's music, everything else was still on schedule. The music video for Joe's song would start filming soon also. She didn't know all of the details yet, but the production crew could only say good things about the direction the video was going.

Looking up from her phone and around the cafeteria, Rachel noticed that there seemed to be a few more people in there today. Usually it was just her and maybe four or five others, but today there were some men and women that she had never seen before. It was possible they were part of the security detail that Puck had hired, he wanted ears and eyes all over the place. Rachel sighed, she knew he was going to do this, but did he really have to hire this many? Hopefully Puck had spun a good story for when someone asked.

Once Rachel had grabbed a salad and a water, she sat down at her normal table towards the back of the cafeteria. She wasn't trying to avoid anyone, she just chose to eat by herself so that she could eat quicker and get back to work. Today the universe had other plans as two women sat down with her.

Rachel almost got strangled on her water as she realized who was sitting in front of her. "Kitty? Bree? What are you two doing here?"

The two shared a look before Bree shrugged her shoulders and responded. "We're moonlighting as security for a while around here."

"You mean Sue just let you leave working for her to come here?" Rachel asked as she wiped her chin with a napkin.

Kitty scoffed as she opened her chicken sandwich. "Of course not. Puck had to pay a pretty penny, but he wanted the best and he got us. Plus, we're only doing this once or twice a week, Sue would never let us leave the force permanently."

"Yeah, I think she would kill us herself before she let us leave." Bree said thoughtfully. Good thing she loved being an officer, she didn't want to die at the hands of Sue Sylvester.

"Do you know exactly why you are here?" Rachel was worried that everyone was going to know about Jasper now and that was a huge deal.

"All we know is that there was an "incident" and Puck doesn't want to cut any corners when it comes to his employees." Bree studied Rachel closely for a moment. "Do _you_ know exactly why we are here?"

"No, of course not. I was just curious because I had seen the extra security around." That was good, just play it cool and no one will ever suspect a thing. Bree studied Rachel again for a moment before she went back to eating her lunch and making small talk with Kitty and Rachel. They had to get back to their rounds soon and they were sure that Rachel had to get back to the studio.

* * *

Cassie sat waiting for Shelby to climb into the car, she swears the woman must have bought the store out with the amount of sushi she was carrying. Cassie really wanted to ask about what all Santana had said, but she didn't want to upset Shelby. In order for them to get anywhere however, she needed to know the truth and why Shelby had drowned herself in work instead of taking the time to keep a relationship with her daughter.

Shelby smiled and leaned over to kiss Cassie on the cheek after setting the bags of food in the back floor board. "What did the vet say about Simba?" Shelby asked as she buckled her seatbelt and turned to look at the little orange kitten sleeping in his carrier.

"He said he was great and that his blood work came back good. He has a follow up appointment in a few weeks. I really like the vet, he didn't talk to me like I was stupid, he explained every question I asked even if they seemed silly."

"That's good, I am glad we could find someone who is truly good at what they do." Shelby sat back in her seat as Cassie backed out of her parking space.

"I ran into someone while I was there." Cassie said nonchalantly.

"Who?" Shelby asked curiously. They honestly didn't know very many people around St. Lawrence, people knew of them and who they were but that was really the extent of it.

"Santana Lopez...Shelby why didn't you tell me about the times that Rachel reached out to you and you just brushed her off? You never told me what really happened, you just let me believe that you and Rachel fell out of touch because of the distance. So what do I do? I mention that part to Santana and then she proceeds to tell me how Rachel tried day after to day to call and visit you, but you just didn't have the time. I could have helped you make time Shelby, so what's the real reason behind all of this?" Cassie was furious, furious at herself for not pushing the issue harder when it was happening and furious at Shelby for not asking for help and keeping her in the dark.

Shelby's face paled, she hadn't expected Cassie to say that she had ran into Santana and of all things they could have talked about, she and Rachel were the main subjects. Dammit, Shelby thought to herself, she really had some major explaining to do.

* * *

**I know this chapter had a lot of Shelby and Cassie in it, but that's just how this chapter fell. The amount I write for each chapter is what I am comfortable reading and it allows me to work at a decent pace so that I can update every three days like I do. Once I get Shelby and Cassie more established, they will fade out. There's a lot going on in this story and I want to make sure that everything stays in order.**

**Thank you for hanging in there with me and thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites and follows. **


	36. This Magic Moment

Cassie watched Shelby pace around their kitchen. Dinner had been finished and cleaned up a while ago and Shelby still hadn't been able to find the words to explain to Cassie what all had actually happened. It was easy to mull something over again and again in your head, letting it keep you up for countless nights on end. The hardest part was actually saying everything out loud, that made it reality, that allowed for others to see just how much you had failed. Shelby had been going over how to say this since they had returned home earlier in the evening with their lunch, every time she had tried to get the words out, they just became stuck.

"Do you want some coffee?" Cassie asked as she stood up from the table and made her way across the kitchen to the coffee pot.

"No..yes...I don't know. Yes." Shelby looked at Cassie a little pleadingly, she wasn't sure if she was pleading for guidance or a sympathetic remark that would get her out of this.

"You know you don't actually have to talk about this right now. I'm not going to push you, but I can see it all brewing in your head. If you weren't ready to talk, you wouldn't be pacing right now." Cassie turned around and leaned against the counter, causally crossing her arms over chest.

"Okay." Shelby rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger. "You know I was a surrogate for Hiram and Leroy." It was a statement more than a question, Cassie knew this, she had accepted that Shelby had done what she needed to do. "The contract I signed said I couldn't contact until she was of age, I tried to get around that and when I saw her it just wasn't what I expected it to be. She had grew up without me, why would she need me then?" Cassie opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but nothing come out. This wasn't her story to comment on, she was doing the listening at the moment. "So I left. Skip down the road twelve years I think and I start seeing all of this stuff about Rachel and Marcus Porter. I knew he was her manager, I had been to every show that she was in. Some of those nights I was working late, I was actually watching her do her thing on stage." Shelby smiled tearfully. "I just had to know that she was okay, so I went to McKinley and I ended up at a diner for lunch and Santana and Rachel came in. I am pretty sure Santana figured out who I was the moment she seen me and then Rachel saw me and I felt stuck."

Cassie was confused, she already knew all of this. She just wanted to know why Shelby decided to ruin a relationship that was just starting that could have been an amazing thing. Cassie watched as Shelby sat down at the kitchen table, at least she had stopped pacing and wearing a hole in the floor.

"I panicked and I ran, but I didn't get far. I went to speak to Leroy. We had a long talk and I mean a long one. He told me about everything that had happened, well everything that he knew. He helped me meet up with Rachel and we talked and everything was going so well, but then work came calling and I panicked again. I think I was preparing myself for it all to fall apart and instead of trying to save it, I pushed it to fall apart faster. That's why I done what I did and I regret it every day."

"Shelby...we all make mistakes." Cassie spoke quietly as she sat down next to Shelby and took one of her hands into her own.

"What kind of person makes that kind of mistake though? I knew what I was doing, I knew I was pushing her away because I was scared of finally having a relationship with my daughter! I thought that if I kept throwing myself into my work that it would hurt less and I would have something new to focus on other than the destruction that I was purposely causing. Not only that, it hurt so much to see her in so much pain. She was still having flash backs and panic attacks and I didn't know how to help her, so instead of being there for her I ran. Once I ran, I knew it would fall apart. I'm such a horrible person." Shelby began to sob at the revealing of everything she had, she was so ashamed of herself.

"You're not a horrible person, you just don't know how to deal with certain things and that's why you should have asked for help. I am you're partner, your wife and your best friend, I would have helped Shelby. We could have all gotten through this together." Cassie squeezed Shelby's hand, she knew that her wife was hurting and there wasn't much she could do other than try to help salvage what might be left of Shelby and Rachel's relationship, that's why she needed Santana.

* * *

Rachel was dragging her feet as she walked up the steps to the cabin. It had been a long day after lunch, turns out she had to stay late at the studio in order to try and catch up more. She knew that with all the work coming up she was bound to have countless days like this. At least now she was home and could just relax and have dinner with Santana. Except, there might not be as much relaxing as she had hoped since she still had to tell Santana that Jasper was back because Puck had called him. That wasn't news that you just delivered over the phone.

"Hi babe." Santana briefly looked over her shoulder before she bent over to retrieve something out of the oven, Rachel wasn't sure what, but it smelled amazing.

Setting down her bags, Rachel briefly stopped to pet the dogs. Apparently both of them had had hard days at the vet, Rachel pouted sympathetically as she rubbed their ears. "Are they feeling any better?" Rachel asked as she stood back up to her full height and looked into the kitchen at Santana.

"They both have just laid around since we got home, but they have both eat and drunk plenty. They're fine, they just wore themselves out. Come get ready to eat." Santana motioned towards herself with the oven mitt that she was holding.

"Whatever you made smells amazing." Rachel walked over the sink and washed her hands before she walked over to Santana wrapping an arm around her waist. She looked up at Santana and puckered her lips, waiting for a kiss.

"Hi." Santana grinned as she turned her head to oblige Rachel's request.

"Hello." Rachel whispered, before she attempted to deepen the kiss. She was tired, but she was never too tired for this.

"Rachel." Santana mumbled. "My potatoes are going to burn."

Chuckling, Rachel gave Santana one last kiss before she went to sit down at the island. Santana had already set out a caeser salad and the plates and silverware. "You never did tell me what you made." Rachel picked a crouton out of the salad bowl.

"Technically you didn't ask." Santana was moving her potatoes into a ceramic dish. "But, I made Italian marinated chicken breast, roasted parmesan potatoes, sweet corn and caeser salad." Santana sat the dish of potatoes down before she turned around to grab the chicken and corn. "Dig in."

* * *

Santana stood at the sink next to Rachel who decided that she wanted to dry the dishes instead of wash tonight. Rachel chuckled to herself as Santana pulled her soap covered arms out of the water. "You always use too much dish washing liquid."

"I know, but who doesn't love bubbles?" Santana raised her left arm and flicked her hand at Rachel, successfully sending bubbles flying right into Rachel's face.

Rachel stood there in a shock for a moment with her eyes closed tightly and her mouth slightly open. "Santana Lopez...I can't believe you just did that." She was trying desperately not to get the soap in her mouth.

Santana snorted as she watched Rachel blindly reach for the towel that she had been using to try and wipe some of the bubbles off. "I'm sorry. Here let me help." Santana apologized as she wiped her hands on the towel first before carefully wiping off Rachel's face. "Is it in your eyes?" She asked as Rachel slowly blinked her eyes open, they weren't burning which was a good sign that they were clear of bubbles.

"No..we're good." Rachel leaned forward and stood partially on her tippy toes in order to give Santana a kiss. She used one hand to keep her balance as she let her right hand linger close to the sink. Santana had became oblivious to everything around her, Rachel's kisses still had a certain amount of power over her. She didn't noticed the handful of bubbles until it was too late. Rachel grinned as she pulled back from the kiss and smeared the handful of bubbles down Santana's face. She giggled and waited a moment before she stepped back in preparation to take off running.

Santana sputtered, dish washing soap did not taste good at all. She could feel Rachel step out the embrace and start giggling. Santana opened her eyes and with a growl she took off after Rachel chasing her around the kitchen island.

"Santana, it's only fair you done it me!" Rachel shouted as she made her third loop around the island. Santana just wouldn't let up, every time they passed the sink one of them would grab another handful of bubbles. The floor would probably be soaked in water soon.

Santana paused at the corner of the island. "I flicked bubbles at you, you smeared them down my face! How is that fair at all?!" She rested her hands on the counter, Rachel was fast, it was incredible how she was so short but had such long legs.

"Well..I mean...It just is!" Rachel yelled as she took off running out of the front door of the cabin and into the yard. The dogs who were feeling much better after their extremely long naps, decided to follow suit and took off after Rachel.

Santana ran after all three of them cackling as she headed around the side of the cabin instead of directly following. Rachel paused in her running. Where was Santana? She had seen her come out of the cabin too. Curious, Rachel walked back towards the porch, slightly out of breath.

Feeling pretty sneaky, Santana had ran around to the side of the cabin where her rain barrels were located. She grinned evilly, she had set up a newer more powerful hose pump not too long ago and the barrels were full. Rachel thought she was going to cover Santana in bubbles? Well, Santana knew just how to rinse them all off. Smirking, Santana turned on the pump and readied the hose, she could hear Rachel getting closer. She aimed the nozzle and waited for her target to arrive.

Rachel stepped around the cabin and was met with a face full of water. She let out an ear piercing scream as Santana continued to soak her up and down with the hose. "SANTANA LOPEZ, WHAT IN WORLD ARE YOU DOING?!" Rachel put her hands up in surrender as she tried to block some of the water. Santana cackled again before dropping the hose and taking off across the yard. Rachel stopped for a moment, thankful she was no longer being soaked before she took off after Santana. Yes, it was late and dark out and yes, she needed to tell Santana about Jasper being back. For now though all of that could wait because in the moment, this was all that mattered.


	37. How About Coffee

Rachel grinned as she placed the fake wedding invitation on the last page of the photo album. It was finally finished, it had taken almost two weeks to complete with everything that was going on, but now it was done. Sometimes it felt like days weren't going to end or they just all began to run together, it was Monday and then all of a sudden it was Thursday again. At least things had settled down now that the music video for Joe's song was done, Jasper and Brock's songs were completely recorded and Jasper's music video was in pre-production.

Santana had been keeping herself busy with turning into some secret spy ever since Rachel had told her that Jasper was back in town. Rachel swears it's like Santana has created her own little army. She was just glad that the whole ordeal had went better than she had anticipated, Santana was mad that Rachel hadn't told her right away but she understood that Rachel really didn't have a chance to. The first thing that she had done was call Duncan to round up some of his guys, he had been on stand by for a few days at that point. Rachel couldn't help but laugh a little at how ridiculous this all has become.

There had been small developments on the Shelby front, thanks to Santana and Cassandra. After an "accidental" run in during a late dinner, Shelby and Rachel had at least acknowledged each other. With Rachel being so busy at the studio it was honestly hard to find the time for Santana and Cassandra to be sneaky and set up these run ins. They were going to have to step their game up. The moment the women had seen each other had been slightly awkward, Shelby had looked at Rachel like she was a ghost that she was seeing for the first time. Which technically that was expected since they hadn't seen each other in so long. They didn't speak, just smiled before they went to join their significant others, respectively. Having them be in the same room with one another for over an hour without either running out was a huge step.

A week after that Santana and Cassandra was able to magically have Shelby and Rachel run into each other in the supermarket. Just don't tell Mr. Shuester, that sometimes they don't need bulk items and that instead of shopping at Shuebury's they go to St. Lawrence to one of the smaller stores there. On that particular evening, Santana was trying to convince Rachel that yes they did need the jumbo marshmallows and not the tiny marshmallows that the jumbo ones poo out, when she heard a snort behind her and turned to find Cassandra standing there laughing at her.

_"Can I help you?" Santana turned to face Cassandra with both bags of marshmallows in her hands._

_"Nope." Cassie covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her laughter. "Just need to get some marshmallows." Cassie started to reach around Santana to grab what she was looking for. _

_Rachel found herself staring between the two women, her eyes going back and forth like a tennis match. She decided not to say anything, maybe she could stand there and go unnoticed. Of course the world would not be working in her favor tonight, Rachel sighed as she heard Shelby's voice from one isle over._

_"Cass, where did you go?" Shelby asked as she turned and looked around. What the hell? Cassie had been standing there two seconds ago._

_"I'm over here."_

_"Where is over here?" There was evident confusion in Shelby's voice. She didn't know where "over here" was considering there was at least two immediate "over here's" as to where Cassie could be. _

_"Marshmallow isle, love." Cassie froze when she realized what she said, she glanced out of the corner of her eye over to Rachel who was looking around the isle, like she hadn't just heard her mother's voice._

_Shelby breathed a sigh of relief when she turned the corner to find Cassie standing there, however she didn't anticipate Santana and Rachel to be standing there also. "Hello." Shelby spoke to everyone standing there, she might not have a relationship with her daughter and her fiancee but she wasn't about to be rude._

_"Hi." Surprisingly Rachel was the one to speak, which left everyone in various stages of shock. Santana and Cassie were still standing in front of the marshmallows now acting like they were comparing them, each with a bag in their hand. _

_Rachel stood up straighter, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Santana saw the change instantly as she was sure everyone else had seen it too. In an instant Rachel had went from her relaxed laid back self to what Santana called her media self for when someone was getting too close. This wasn't how this was supposed to go, but Santana understood why media Rachel came out, she doesn't know how to trust Shelby and even simple pleasantries as such could lead to opening up old wounds._

_"How are you?" Shelby asked nervously, obviously she was going to have to lead this conversation. _

_"I'm good...we're good." Rachel nodded to Santana who looked up and smiled before she wrapped up her little conversation with Cassie. Santana and Cassie could both tell that they were needed, if not for anything more than moral support. "And you? How are you guys? Happy to be back in New York I assume?" Rachel could feel herself getting worked up until she felt a hand on her back slowly moving up and down. She sighed internally, grateful for Santana's touch._

_"We're good. We've been setting up our classroom and studios at the school. We're incredibly happy to be back in New York." Shelby was looking at Rachel with tears in her eyes. She knew that the older woman was saying a lot more than she actually meant in that statement. Rachel looked at Shelby right in the eye before she let her eyes trace over the features of Shelby's face. For the first time, Rachel could honestly see the guilt and regret on the woman's face, it was something that she had kept so well hidden before. _

_"New York is happy to have you back." Rachel spoke as she breathed out._

_Shelby__ chuckled to herself as she wiped her eyes before the tears could fall. "That makes me really happy." She said as she nodded her head. Cassie and Santana waited for there to be some kind of hug, they were both giddy as they waited for something...anything to happen!_

_"Attention customers, the store will be closing in fifteen minutes."_

_"I guess that's our que to leave huh?" Rachel stuck her thumb over her shoulder as she pointed to the front of the store. _

_"Yeah, we better get going too." Shelby turned around to walk away with Cassie, but something told her to stay for a moment. She needed to do this right if she was goig to do this at all. "Rachel." Shelby called out._

_Rachel turned around, furrowing her brows in question. She stepped closer to Shelby and waited. "Do you want to get a coffee sometime? I know you're really busy, we heard the new song. But uhm, if you're up for it, when you're not busy..we could get coffee or tea, maybe you like it better." Shelby asked as she looked over her shoulder to smile at Cassie, she just needed something to ground her so that she would stop rambling._

_Rachel reached out and placed her hand on Shelby's arm. "I would love to get coffee with you sometime. I will let you know when I am free or maybe you could come to McKinley one day and I could meet you."_

_"Yeah? I would really like that." Shelby looked over Rachel's shoulder to Santana who was standing there tapping her watch, they needed to go before they got locked in the store. _

_"I'll call you. Is your number still the same?" Rachel said as she took a step backwards._

_"Yeah, it is." Shelby watched Rachel go for a moment before she turned around and wrapped Cassie in a hug that was close to squeezing the life out her. "She's going to call me." Shelby murmured into Cassie's neck._

_Cassie laughed as she ran her hands up and down Shelby's back. "You know if I didn't know that that was your daughter, with the way you are talking now I would assume that you're super crush had asked you on a date or something._

_"Shut up." Shelby laughed before she pulled away to playfully smack at Cassie. Turning to walk ahead, Shelby didn't notice Cassie hang back for a moment. Santana turned around to see Cassie standing there at the opposite end of the isle, she grinned and gave Cassie a thumbs up. Their plan had worked a thousand times better than they had ever anticipated. They had hoped for some small talk, but what they got was so much more. Hopefully in time, Shelby and Rachel would be on the road to repairing their relationship._

Now that Rachel finally had a day off she planned to call Shelby and ask if she would like to go out this evening. Santana had already asked this morning before she left if Rachel was going to call. Santana actually had given herself the day off too to tend to the cabin and hopefully pick some stuff out of the garden today. Rachel felt bad about leaving since this was her first day off in two weeks, but Santana assured her that it was fine and that they could spend all day Sunday together.

Sitting the photo album down on the bed, Rachel took out the decorative box the book was supposed to go in. She needed to get this put up in the closet and then get dressed and hopefully find her nerve while in the shower to actually call Shelby and ask if she would like to go out this evening. Rachel wasn't sure where this go for it spirit was coming from, but maybe it was a good thing. She still had plenty of reservations about Shelby, but how do you know if you can trust someone? You trust them until they show why you shouldn't trust them.

Rachel gathered her clothing out of the closet as she hid the photo album in the back. Now that the photo album was done, she had to come up with some way to actually propose to Santana. Should she take her out to a nice dinner and then give her the book? No, that wouldn't work. Santana was obviously a super private person, hence the reason Rachel was proposed to at home instead of out in public. Hmm, Rachel thought to herself, she didn't need grand gestures to get Santana's attention. Maybe, she would come up with an idea in the shower, it really was the best place to think no matter what anyone said.

* * *

Santana sat in her hammock in her tree house with her feet propped up and her lap top resting on her thighs. She was swinging slightly back and forth as she watched the audio feed move up and down as Jasper spoke to someone on the phone. She could see him walking back and forth in his apartment living room, waving his hands in the air like he was livid at whom ever he was speaking too. She had no idea who he was talking to, but apparently nothing had come of it yet, since the video was taken yesterday by one of Duncan's men. Maybe this was taking it too far or maybe it hadn't gone far enough yet, but for now Santana knew every time Jasper breathed North instead of East and it was going to stay that way. She had to do this, staying two steps ahead was the only way that she knew how to keep Rachel safe, unless she just went on ahead and killed Jasper. That was out of the question, Rachel would surely frown upon that.

Smirking evilly, Santana closed the lap top and stood up. She needed to actually get some work done today instead of hiding out in the tree house watching Jasper videos. Hopefully Rachel had taken her advice and called Shelby to ask her out to dinner tonight, it was something that she really needed to do. If not, well then Santana was going to make plans with Cassie to help push the women in that direction again. They were two for two right now, and if everything went well then they would be three for three. Santana could only hope for the best.


	38. Let's Do Dinner

Rachel wrung her hands together nervously as she stood outside the chosen restaurant waiting for Shelby. After taking her shower earlier, she had called Shelby as soon as she got out of the shower before she lost her nerve. It had been a light and quick conversation, nothing more than just hashing out the details of where they should meet, Rachel really hoped tonight went well. Santana was at home working on a painting after Rachel had fixed her dinner. Of course, Santana had insisted that she could fix her own self dinner, but Rachel knew that she was tired and she was being more than supportive when it came to everything going on, so Rachel wanted to do something nice.

Glancing down at her watch, Rachel realized that she was actually super early. Apparently her nerves had turned on her over drive and now she still had at least ten minutes before she was even supposed to meet Shelby. Nerves and over drive must run in the family because when Rachel looked back up she noticed Shelby pulling into an empty parking space. Rachel smiled as Shelby turned off her Audi and climbed out.

"Hi." Rachel greeted as Shelby approached. The woman looked like she was about to go in for a hug, but stopped short. She shook off the disappointment, they could always hug later...maybe. "I forgot it was Thai night here, is this still okay or do you want to go somewhere else?" Rachel asked as she turned to look at the restaurant. She felt so silly for forgetting that Panda House covered all Asian cuisine and not just your standard Chinese food.

"This is fine, I love all food and I will try anything once." Shelby shrugged her shoulders. They needed to figure out how to get past this awkwardness quicker. There was no doubt it was going to be a rough road, there was so much time lost that needed to be made up for.

"Okay, well. Shall we go in?" Rachel turned to open the door, taking a deep breath to prepare herself for the evening ahead. She was unaware that Shelby was doing the exact same thing.

* * *

Santana was bored. Rachel had only been gone about an hour and Santana had already finished her dinner and done the dishes. She had decided earlier while working as Rachel was cooking that she had made enough progress on her painting that she could stop for the evening. Also, she needed a break anyway before she started to lose focus on the end goal of what she would like the painting to look like. Stuff like that tended to be an issue a lot of the time when it came to painting, you had this beautiful end goal of what you wanted in your head, but for some reason you hit a lot of road blocks on the path to get there. It was a true artistic struggle that not a lot of people could really understand.

Deciding that she would see if there was anything new about Jasper, Santana ran up to the loft and grabbed her laptop before coming back down to the kitchen and sitting down at the island. She looked across the island at the baskets of vegetables that she had picked today from her garden, she could always get started on canning but she had promised Rachel that she would let her help. That was an idea that they could do tomorrow or they could ride out to the fields and pick some berries, eh, they could always decide what to do in the morning.

Santana sighed as her laptop loaded up, she kept thinking about the video she had watched earlier. She couldn't tell what Jasper was saying, the distance mixed with the wind had muffled practically everything except a few various words here or there. If asked she wasn't going to deny that she had contemplated bugging Jasper's apartment, but to her that was definitely going too far considering she didn't want to be that invasive. She just wanted to know what he was up to, there was a feeling in her gut that he was planning something on his own and that the way he had been acting lately was just that, an act.

At least Santana had been able to find out some stuff on Charles and Ronald. Charles Porter was still sitting in jail in California with Ronald Adkins, at the moment he had had one court date where he had obviously plead not guilty to all charges. He wasn't going to go down without a fight, however, the DA was slowly gathering evidence or what they thought was evidence, against him. The way Sue spoke they had found credit card statements where Charles had the water and electricity turned back on at the beach house. That could be discredited as him turning the utilities back on for his own eventual use, since they knew he never used the house full time. His large purchases at clothing stores wasn't out landish either, considering they match up with other previous purchases. Charles was just a big spender. The only solid evidence that they had, that would actually stand up in court at the moment was phone calls made by Charles to the beach house, he was obviously talking to someone in there. It was only a matter of time before they set bail and chances are Charles was going to come after them all before anything else could fall apart. Santana had never had more reason than now to be on top of her game.

* * *

Rachel sighed as she pushed her food around on her plate. The conversation between mother and daughter had hit another low note. It wasn't as if Rachel had no idea what to talk about, she had plenty to say, but what she had to say probably wasn't best to be said in a restaurant. Shelby watched Rachel for a moment, it felt so surreal to finally be having a dinner with her daughter again, this was a thousand times more than what she initially expected, but she was thankful none the less that coffee had turned into a dinner instead.

"So...you're working on a new album? How's that going?" Shelby asked.

"We haven't actually started working on the new album yet. We have been recording songs that the writing interns done. Puck wants to release those to introduce me back into the music scene." Rachel took a bite of her food, she was glad they had decided to stay here instead of going somewhere else. The food was divine.

"Are you planning on doing any more movies?"

Rachel shook her head before she responded. "Not right now. I want to focus on my music and staying close to home with the wedding coming up in a few months. We still haven't chosen a date yet, but we are looking at maybe December twentieth."

"Any particular reason you chose that date?"

"Winter is just a special time for me and Santana." Rachel shrugged her shoulders and rolled her neck trying to relieve some of the tension that was trying to set it. "It's when we first met." She spoke quietly.

Shelby mentally kicked herself, she should have known that. Rachel showed up on Santana's door step in January but it was still very much winter if the snow that Rachel had trekked through was any indication. "Rachel...I am so sor-"

"No..let's not do this here. It's been three years, there's no need to hash out all the things that happened when Santana found me. Or well, when I found her."

"Okay." Shelby put her hands up in surrender before she went back to eating her food. "How is Santana?" Shelby wasn't going to mention Cassie running into Santana at the vet because she wasn't sure if Rachel knew.

Rachel couldn't stop the smile that came across her face. "She's good. She is supposed to be working right now, but I honestly doubt she is. Her website is still doing fantastic and there's a couple of art galleries and some production company that want to show some of her newer work. She hasn't done a show in a while."

"I would love to come to a show, Cassie acts like she despises art, but she really is a fanatic about it. Don't tell Santana, but Cassie is a huge fan."

Rachel chuckled as she took a sip of her water. "I remember their banter from last time...it would inflate Santana's ego to new heights and Cassie would probably die of embarrassment."

Shelby chuckled as she looked down at her plate, she couldn't help the flood of emotions that came rushing back when Rachel mentioned the few times all four women had spent together before she left. "Last time...Rachel I know you said let's not do this here, but I need to explain things to you. I need to fix this before we can try and move on." Shelby sighed heavily as she looked at Rachel pleadingly.

Rachel nodded her head. She had a few things she needed to say too. "Let's pay and then take a walk down to the park that's close by. We can talk there."

* * *

Shelby sat down on a bench after she and Rachel had made their second loop around the park walking track. It was barely dusk out, children were still playing on the large play ground. Shelby couldn't help but smile at the little boy who apparently had just completed the monkey bars for the first time. For a moment Shelby envisioned what her life would have been like had she not been a surrogate and kept her baby girl. Her life would definitely be vastly different in a lot of ways.

"Why did you come back?" Rachel spoke, looking across the park at nothing in particular. She knew this conversation had to start somewhere and what better place to start than to ask out right why Shelby came back.

Shelby looked down at her folded hands. "I've made a lot of mistakes Rachel and it's high time I make amends. Life is short, too short and I can't keep expecting something I truly want to just fall into my lap."

"But you had it in your lap, twice. Are you saying that both times before you never truly wanted a relationship with me?" Rachel narrowed her eyes, but she still refused to look at Shelby.

"I messed up. I've always wanted a relationship with you, but I got scared. Scared that you would question why I agreed to be a surrogate, question how as a mother I could just give you up like that. I wasn't ready to deal with the reality of giving you up the first time we met. Then everything happened and I couldn't stay away anymore, so I came to see you. I let the fear of work and distance drive me into breaking the relationship we had started. I couldn't deal with the pain of losing you again."

"You know that's the most shit excuse I have ever heard before. You destroyed our relationship because you were worried it was going to end anyway? I told you I would come see you and I called over and over again, but you ignored me." Rachel said as her eyes misted over with tears. "How do you think that made me feel? You didn't want me the first time around because I wasn't the baby you gave up anymore. What really happened the second time around? Huh, was I too messed up for you to deal with? Santana was the only person I truly had during that time. I was still learning to trust Dad and I needed someone. Santana is only one woman, but she stuck by me through it all. When I woke up from a nightmare, she was right there. When I started having panic attacks because I thought I saw one of the Porter's in the damn store, Santana was right there. She never left me, but you did because you couldn't handle it, you couldn't handle my issues." The tears were pouring down both women's faces now, they needed to rein it in as people were already starting to look at them strange.

"Rachel, I didn't know how to help you." Shelby cried as she reached out to grab Rachel's hand, surprised that Rachel didn't pull away.

"Just being there would have helped." Rachel shook her head as she crossed her arm over her chest while the other remained in Shelby's grasp.

"I see that now. I can't take back what I done and I can't take back not being there, but I am here now and I swear I am not leaving this time. No matter what happens."

Rachel looked up at her mother with red rimmed eyes. "I can't put that much trust in you right now. I want to, but I just can't."

"I swear, I will earn your trust back. I know we still have tons to talk about and I know we aren't going to have the best of days, but I'm tired of running. I'm not getting any younger, I want to be here. Cassie wants to be here, I'm not going anywhere." Shelby squeezed Rachel's hand, when she didn't receive any sort of response she began to panic and then everything changed in an instant when she felt Rachel squeeze back. They weren't going to be were she wanted them to be overnight, but this was a good start.

* * *

**Everything that is going on with Jasper, Charles and Ronald will soon come to a head. This story was always intended to be about Rachel and Santana's life together and in order to get the story truly moving again, Jasper has to go. There's a few other characters I want to phase out to just name mentions so that I can introduce the final arch (for now) in Rachel and Santana's main plot line for this story. And I know, "ugghhh" more characters, but I promise I really think you are going to like these new people and what or more so who they bring to the story. **

**I'm not going to lie, I worry sometimes I have too much going on in this story. Sometimes I have to go and read it myself to keep everything in line because I didn't do an outline. With that said, even without an outline I know where this story is going to end and it's still a long ways off. For now the main focus is figuring out Jasper and his plan, rekindling Shelby and Rachel's relationship and Rachel's proposal to Santana. **

**Thank you for the continued support on this story. I appreciate the views, reviews, favorites and follows. **


	39. Making A Plan

Rachel walked back into the cabin with a heavy sigh. Glancing at the clock she realized that she hadn't even looked at the time and that she and Shelby had spent way longer talking in the park than she initially thought. They had moved on from the heavy stuff for the evening and stuck to light conversation about work and their significant others. It was actually nice after the initial shock of mild yelling and tears, Rachel knew they had more to talk about and she was already slowly preparing herself for that.

Looking around the cabin as she took her leather sandals off, Rachel wondered where Santana and the dogs were. The living room was empty, the loft was empty and the kitchen was empty. Where in the world are they, Rachel muttered to herself as she made her way down the hallway off from the kitchen to check Santana's studio. She breathed a sigh of relief when she pushed open Santana's studio door and saw Santana stretched out on the couch with Dax tucked into the back of the couch, his legs laying across Santana's and Dahlia resting on her chest. Rachel chuckled to herself, Dahlia was definitely too big to be laying on Santana. Even though the dog was small for her age, she still stretched the length of Santana's torso. Taking out her phone Rachel began to take pictures, it was such a cute moment that there was no way she was going to pass this up.

Santana's eyes began to flutter open, she could feel someone watching her and then she heard what was inevitably the sound of a camera going off. Shaking the fog off of her sleep clouded brain, Santana smiled when she saw Rachel standing there biting her lip and holding her hands behind her back.

"What are you doing home already?" Santana asked she stretched and then laughed as Dahlia narrowed her eyes at her for disturbing her pillow.

"Already? Baby it's almost midnight. How long have you been in here?" Rachel slowly began to walk around the studio. The original mural that helped Rachel realize where she had been left to die had been painted over. The wall now held...nothing. What? Rachel took a step back and studied the wall carefully, after the mural of Cross Peak had been painted over, Santana had painted an oceanic mural. Well Santana claimed it was oceanic and tranquil. All Rachel seen was the shark shadows that looked to be circling some kind of prey. Now all that was on the wall was a basic primer.

"Santana, when did you paint over the sharks?" Rachel asked as she turned around to look at Santana who was now sitting up with both dogs sitting next to her.

"Uhh, a couple of weeks ago I think?" Santana responded as she scratched her head. She rubbed her face before pushing herself up off the couch.

"Why didn't I know or at the very least notice it myself?" Rachel had a pensive look on her face trying to figure out the last time she had been in Santana's studio.

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "You never come in here unless I am in here and I didn't think to mention it because I am still deciding what I want to put back up there. I was thinking of maybe leaving it blank for a while, I wanted to do some kind of family portrait, but I don't know if I want to see a gigantic version of myself on the wall." Santana crossed her arms over her chest and studied the wall, yeah seeing yourself on your own studio wall just wasn't something that she really wanted.

Rachel laughed as she wrapped her arms around Santana in a hug. "Whatever you decide to put up there will be beautiful as is all of your art work."

"Thank you." Santana tilted her head back so that she could rest her chin on the side of Rachel's head. "So how did things go tonight with Shelby? Did they go well since you are home so late?"

"Ughh, they were okay for the most part. We had a moment in the park where things got a little heated." Rachel snuggled her head in the crook of Santana's neck. A clear sign that she really didn't want to talk about this tonight.

Santana sighed as she ran her hands up and down Rachel's back. "Do you want to go to bed or would you like to have some tea with me? I'm pretty sure I have been asleep for almost three hours or something."

"I'll take some tea. I wouldn't be able to sleep even if I tried." Rachel pulled back out of the hug and pouted before turning around and grabbing Santana's hand to lead her to the kitchen.

* * *

Jasper leaned back in his computer chair, resting his hands on the back of his head as he waited for all of the pictures that he took tonight to import. It had been surprisingly more easy than he had thought to continue to follow Rachel, Santana and Leroy. Apparently Santana's men weren't as good as following as he was. He remembered to be careful about his surroundings and he hadn't seen anyone while he was out for a good six or seven hours.

Opening a new browser window, Jasper began to search for tracking technology. Sure he was good at tailing, but he was only able to tail one of them when he knew where they were. Before he had just been lucky in finding Rachel, Santana and Leroy but now that they were on to him, they were more careful in how they spoke about any plans they had. He couldn't run around McKinley looking for them all the time like he had tried to before. It was way too tiring. If he was going to impress his uncle he had to get better with all of this, he needed to know exactly where they were at all times and not just where he last seen them or their cars.

Jasper sighed as clicked around on the computer screen, he had never seen so many tracking devices before. He needed something small, easily hidden and easy to attach. How was he going to attach them though...that was something he was going to have to figure out. He needed a back up plan, he was going to have to get creative soon, especially if his uncle didn't come through and remained in jail.

* * *

Duncan laughed as his security team leaders flipped through all the pictures they had taken of Jasper McNeal. This guy really was a piece of work. If he thought he was being inconspicuous then he had another thing coming. It was clear he had no idea what he was doing.

"He's looking right at you in that one." Duncan turned his head and laughed as he pointed at the picture on the camera screen.

"Right?! And he never seen me." James laughed as he took a sip of his beer. No they weren't on the job anymore and Duncan, who wasn't drinking, was settled for the night in his little home away from home at the end of Santana's road.

"Have you sent these to Santana yet?" Duncan asked as he turned around in his chair to face the men.

"No. When Jasper left the Park behind Rachel, I followed her, Sean followed Jasper and Garrett followed Shelby to make sure she made it home alright. I haven't had a chance to send them yet." James leaned forward and took the camera back before grabbing his laptop out of his backpack. "I want to show you something else...but this one stays between all of us." James looked pointedly at Sean and Duncan. He waited before they both nodded. "You know those programs that sometimes customer services use to help you with your computer. The ones where you give them remote access and they can see all your files and stuff?" Duncan and Sean looked at each other skeptically.

"James, we have been friends and worked together for years. You know we are tech goons and know all about those programs." Sean rested him arm on the back of the couch nonchalantly.

"Okay, I know I know. It's just...I have a friend okay who helped me gain access with one of those programs to Jasper's computer." James continued as he began to type on his laptop.

"So you hacked his computer. What's the big deal?" Duncan shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, Santana said she didn't want us to go that far..at least not yet. Besides it's not the hacking that stays between us. It's what I found after I hacked his computer." James took a deep breath before he turned his laptop around to show Duncan and Sean. "He's making plans...big plans. Without guidance he's winging it and he has a whole list of possible scenarios for killing a lot of people. We thought he was just this crappy stalker who was under the complete control of his uncle. He's not, he's a loose cannon and he's just waiting for someone to light his fuse."

"Why are we keeping this to ourselves and not telling anyone? People need to know what he is planning! I mean this guy has done searches on how to make bombs. His online bank statements have pending gun orders and ammunition orders. What's this? That's a map. What is that a map of?" Sean asked as he looked over James' shoulder at the computer screen.

"That is a map of the Los Angeles County Jail where Charles and Ronald are being held. It's not been updated because those red circles are their old cells." James glanced back and forth between Duncan and Sean waiting on them to put together the pieces of where this was all headed.

"Why would he...oh. He's planning on breaking them out. But how in the world..he can't pull that off on his own. He would be killed in an instant. Also, what does breaking them out have to do with hurting people here?" Sean was going around and around in his head trying to figure all of it out. This plan was crazy, Jasper was crazy.

"My thinking is, he's going to get them out somehow, come back here and finish what Marcus started three years ago. It's pretty far fetched, but it's not completely impossible. Crazier shit has happened before." James sighed as he closed his laptop shut and placed it back into his backpack.

"What do we do? If we tell Santana any of this, she is probably going to go after him herself and we can't have her going to jail. Especially since she and Rachel are getting married in a couple of months. They have been through so much already and they definitely don't need this. I know Santana wants to stay in the loop and she has been doing her own investigating, but this is bigger than all of us combined." Duncan rested his face in his hands as he tried to think.

"We keep an extra close eye on him. He moves, we move. There's no doubt about it that we need more guys on this. Call in some old work buddies who owe us some favors. I'm not going to risk my lively hood for this guy. I owe that to Duncan and Santana. I had been out of work for months, I had already lost my apartment and was about to lose my car that I was living out of when Duncan called to put a team together. I wouldn't have anything now if it wasn't for you and Santana." James spoke as he looked Duncan in the eyes. Sean sat back quietly as he listened to James speak. He knew the situation that James had been in, he had been there himself. Coming off active duty puts you in an incredibly tight spot, unless you already have a job waiting for you, if not you are more than likely going to slowly lose everything. It was a sad truth that a lot of people ignore. Sean was also thankful for everything he had now and there was no way he was going to let anyone down.

"Where do we start?" Sean asked as he eagerly scooted forward on the couch, grabbing a pen and note pad out of the couches side table drawer.

* * *

**I know this is a day late and I apologize. I had some major family stuff going on. I'm not the kind of person who asks for prayers because I am not very religious, so I will ask for some good vibes and well wishes if you guys have a few to spare for my grandfather. They would be greatly appreciated.**

**As you all know I appreciate all the views, reviews, favorites and follows. Knowing that I have dedicated readers keeps me writing and it gives me something else to focus on instead of worrying constantly. **


	40. Helping Hand

The day was finally here! Rachel had been bouncing off the walls all morning. Santana was used to Rachel's normal perky self when she woke up in the morning, but this morning something was different. Of course it wasn't a bad different...just different. Rachel had been almost too excited to sleep last night, which was horrible after the long week she had had. Finally almost everything at the studio was finished, the only thing left to do at this point was to shoot the music video for Brock's song and then the traveling and interviews would start. Hopefully Santana would be able to come on some of the trips that could be extended into mini-vacations.

What was so great about this day? Today was the day that Rachel had finally put the plans in motion to propose to Santana. Really! The woman had been waiting roughly a month for a ring that she didn't even know she wanted. The book was done, well it had been done for a week now and the dinner idea was set. Even though Santana would never go for anything in public, Rachel had set up a dinner for them at the lodge with Leroy and Bayani's help. Luckily there were several private booths. Rachel smirked as she leaned against the kitchen counter, waiting on the water for the coffee press to boil. Bayani had been able to score her the best booth in the whole lodge. So maybe being the almost step daughter of the guy who practically owns and operates the lodge has its perks.

Anyway, Rachel was completely in love with the booth. The only thing that was missing was the beautiful fireplace that set the perfect ambiance for the booth. It was definitely too hot, even with the air conditioner running full force, to have one of the main fireplaces in the lodge lit. Therefore, Rachel would just have to settle for the waterfall that you could see out of the window just a couple of yards away. The only thing that would matter tonight would be Santana. Santana whom Rachel was in the process of trying to get breakfast and coffee fed to so that she could get going. She had a huge meeting this morning with a very large company that wants to use some of her work for a few product placements in some ads and shows they are working on. Rachel honestly didn't know a huge amount about the deal, just that one of Santana's first private clients contacted Artie, who had practically became Santana's agent, and asked about purchasing some of Santana's work. They intended to either make the paintings a main focal point or have the actor directly address who the artist of the painting was.

She dared to try and not show it, but Rachel could tell that Santana was truly excited, because this meeting could lead to another huge boost in sales. _They_ didn't need the money, but this could lead to the restaurant that Rachel had mentioned to Santana a while back. In today's economy it could cost well over a million dollars to open a restaurant and the least investors that Santana needed the better. Investors were great but, Santana liked to do things on her own as much as possible. If she was going to try something and it failed, she didn't want the guilt of wasting other peoples money to be hanging out over her head. It was just better if she done it on her own.

"Santana!" Rachel yelled after she glanced at the kitchen clock and noticed that it was fifteen after nine. Santana's meeting started at ten thirty and the woman was still doing something upstairs. If she didn't leave soon she was going to be late since she still had to make the roughly forty-five minute drive to St. Lawrence since the meeting was being held there at one of the lawyer office buildings.

"What woman?! I'm almost finished, I will be down a in minute." Santana yelled while leaning over the loft railing.

Rachel sighed, glancing at the clock again before she began to impatiently tap her foot. Once Santana was out the door, she also had to head out to the studio. It didn't matter that she was proposing today, she still had to go in and do some work with Quinn. Hopefully all they would be doing would be going over an interview schedule and then she would be able to come home and get ready. Santana was already aware of the dinner tonight, however she just thought it was a simple date night. Boy was she in for a surprise.

"Lopez, let's get a mov-"

"I'm here. I'm ready. You look beautiful and that coffee smells amazing." Santana grinned as she held up her silver travel coffee cup. Rachel huffed and obliged Santana's request for a kiss before she began to fill her cup up for her.

"Are you coming straight home after your meeting?" Rachel asked as she proceeded to fix herself a travel cup of coffee as well.

"I'm going to run to the art store and see if George has any new paint for me. I also need some more stretcher bars, canvas, all that stuff, especially if today's meeting goes well. I will be home with plenty of time to take care of the dogs and get ready for date night." Santana smiled. Rachel could see it in her eyes over the brim of her travel cup.

"Okay, well you need to get going and I need to finish getting ready and head to the studio." Rachel stepped forward, connecting her lips with Santana's. She deepened the kiss when Santana parted her lips allowing Rachel access with her tongue. Santana pulled back slightly, gently biting Rachel's bottom lip. "What was that?" Rachel asked in dazed confusion.

"That was a preview for tonight." Santana winked before she pecked Rachel on the lips once more before heading towards the living room to grab her file bag. Rachel watched her through the kitchen doorway admiring the way Santana's hips moved in her black dress pants before she shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. Right. Studio. She had to get to work also.

* * *

Santana sat in a stuffy conference room at a large table surrounded by Artie, his proclaimed greatest lawyers in the world, Denise whom was the owner of the gallery who hosted most of Santana's shows, two women whom Santana had yet to learn their names, and three semi-formally dressed men. There were a lot more people here than she originally anticipated. Also, she had no idea why Denise was here, it must be important if she had traveled all the way from the city last night to be here.

"Shall we get started?" One of the men stood up at the end of the table. "I'll introduce myself. My name is Peter Reed and I am the owner of Reed Productions." Santana wanted to snort, the guys hair looked like he had tried too hard to create the messy look. "To my left is Kyle York, my projects manager and to my right is Daxton Cook, my financial adviser. Before we go any further, I would just like to thank you Ms. Lopez for meeting with us today. We understand you have a busy schedule."

Santana covered her mouth with her hand to try and avoid laughing, compared to most people she didn't even have a schedule to be busy with. Artie sent her a glare, silently telling her to shut up. Yeah, she would get him for that later. "With all due respect Mr. Reed, I am not even sure why I am here. I mean I have a vague idea, but not really." Santana scooted forward in her chair and rested her hands on the table.

"Well, we have some shows and two movies coming up to start filming and we would like to contract you to do some art work for them. We are looking for some original work for background shots and some hand painted signs for some of our sets." Santana nodded along as Peter spoke, she could do that. It would be a lot of work to do the signs, but totally worth it to see some of her stuff on a television and movie sets.

"Wouldn't it be cheaper for you to like...I don't know contract unheard of artists? Give them a shot at being in the spot light and having their name on a set of credits?"

"Santana." Artie whispered harshly. "You're going to blow this deal and they already have some pretty big numbers on the table."

"Don't Santana me like that. I know what I am doing. I'm trying to be fair and honest here. Mr. Reed, I appreciate you coming to me with this, but there's so many artists out there trying to get a fraction of the recognition that I already have." Artie sighed as he leaned back in his chair, shaking his head and rubbing his eye under his glasses.

"Ms. Lopez, we are aware of those artists and since you are being honest with us, well it's only fair we are being honest with you." The older woman of the women spoke up.

"Do you work with Mr. Reed?" Santana asked the woman.

"Not regularly. Temporarily I am working with him, because he is doing a documentary. I'm Agetha Stidham and I am the director of the St. Lawrence Children's Home. This is my assistant director Chloe Asher." Chloe smiled in greeting. Santana studied her for a moment, she really looked like a mixture of Quinn and Brittany while Agetha looked like Julie Andrews'. "This is so much bigger than you being contracted for the shows. The children's home just recently bought the abandoned Tisch College of the Arts sister campus. The place was built six years ago and Tisch just didn't have enough students enrolled in this area to warrant keeping it open after the second year. The children's home needs the space, especially with the possibility of two other homes closing and combining with St. Lawrence. The documentary is going to help pay for the renovations if it does well enough. Now for the brutal honesty..with a name like yours in support of this documentary it could triple the sales, we could even get picked up by big screen theaters. Mr. Reed has graciously offered to include our new sign in his contract that we would like you to paint. We were also hoping that maybe you could do some smaller paintings and allow us to auction them off for a profit. Ms. Denise has already offered her studio up for a separate event to show some of the children's art work."

"You're very forward aren't you Mrs. Stidham? Most people would never out right ask for paintings to auction. I like your audacity." Santana bounced her head back and forth thinking, so these people wanted her name. Of course she was going to do this for Mrs. Stidham and Ms. Asher, that was a given. If she had been approached in a different setting than this, she would have done the paintings also. Santana truly appreciated Mrs. Stidham's brutal honesty. Mr. Reed and his two silent minions were going to have to work a little harder to get some original artwork and what sounded like a bit of grunt work that honestly a set builder could probably do in their sleep. "Denise what was the overall average profit from the last show that you hosted for me?"

Denise began to flip through a manila folder that Santana just now noticed laying on the table. "Um..almost six million. It was one of the best shows yet, the buyers have really taken a huge interest in your newest work. That was also a limited show, you only had eight pieces that night."

"Mrs. Stidham, do you have a renovation and startup estimate?" Santana clasped her hands under her chin as she watched Mrs. Stidham shuffle some papers around. The lawyers that Santana had dubbed Bob and Bobbie in her head were writing things down, presumably in order to figure out what kind of prices they could get out of Peter.

"Here, pass these down to Ms. Lopez." Mrs. Stidham slid the papers down the table. "With basic repairs, new paint, turning some of the dorms into large nurseries, updating the campus kitchen, new furniture for common rooms, offices, the dining area; the children's necessities and over all bills, we are looking at a rough estimate of three million." Santana could hear the cringe in the woman's voice.

"Okay, this is what we are going to do." Santana laid down the papers that actually was a more broken down list of everything that the home would need and looked at everyone staring back at her in anticipation. Artie smiled with barely concealed pride at Santana, she had just taken complete charge of this whole meeting. He knew that Santana prided herself on doing things for herself and there was no way that she was going to let some business men tell her what to do. "Bob and Bobbie, write this down." The two lawyers looked at her in confusion for a moment before Santana sent them a glare. "I will do the sign and I will donate ten pieces of art work that is to be auctioned off. Sixty percent of those proceeds are to go directly to the St. Lawrence Children's Home. The remaining proceeds are to be divided up between the remaining children's homes here in New York. That way, you guys get your estimates covered and everyone else gets some extra help too. Is that okay?"

"That's more than okay, you have no idea what this means to us and all the other homes in the state." Mrs. Stidham was beyond close to tears. She had no idea what to expect when they walked into this meeting this morning. Of course she had heard rumors that Santana Lopez was a spiteful celebrity and that there was no way in hell she would offer up any kind of money without wanting a large sum in return. Those people could not have been more wrong.

"I have a few requests before we move on." Santana paused as she watched Chloe nodded her head, signaling for her to continue. "I have some friends that I would like to get involved, maybe design some of the nurseries or decorate some of the dorms, help redecorate some of the class rooms to be more kid friendly. My fiance' would love to decorate a nursery I think. I'm not going to lie, I have some pretty big named friends, Artie here included. Did you know he has a production background?" Santana sent a wink in Artie's direction, maybe this meeting could go extremely well for him too. "I'm not saying that to try and be a big shot or something, I am saying that because the more names you have on this documentary, the better it could do and I am all for helping this thing be as big or bigger than it could be. Second, I would love to volunteer at the home, but the only camera's allowed are yours Mr. Reed. This isn't going to turn into a huge PR deal with the media. You can include names in your advertising and stuff but I don't want photographers out there turning it into a mad house. I mean your people has to work, the construction crews have to work and any outside media will be in the way. My last request is a formal invitation to the children's art show." Santana smiled at Denise who nodded her head.

"We would love to have you and some of your friends decorate rooms. We try to keep the rooms decorated at the home we have now, but the older kids like to tell us we have no taste." Chloe rolled her eyes as she laughed. "There's one other thing. I know we all know who you are, but standard procedure to volunteer at the home requires a background check." Chloe said quietly. She didn't want Santana to think that she was singling her out to be difficult.

"That's fine, me and who ever else decides to come with me will fill out anything you need so that we are in the clear. There's no need to write down names yet for Mr. Reed, I will have to talk to them and find out exactly who wants to volunteer or be in the documentary. We can schedule another meeting with them and their lawyers to work out more details. I also need a time frame for the paintings? And Artie you need to close my site until further notice. I have one more commissioned painting to do and then I am clear."

"Today is July twenty-fourth, we are projected to move in the week before Thanksgiving. The home has savings that can pay off the short term crews and we already made deposits with the construction crews. So how about we aim to have the auction...the second week of October? That gives us enough time for the lawyers to collect and divide up the funds and it gives us time to order everything we will need to open." Mrs. Stidham was looking at her calender while Santana done the same.

"I can work with that. I will have the paintings done by October first though, that way programs can be put together and art show invitations can be sent out. Plus, it gives my friends plenty of time to decide how they want to decorate their chosen rooms. Now. Mr. Reed, why don't you tell me about your shows and plans so we can also work out a deal." Santana gave her signature smirk. Her take charge attitude for getting shit done was now in full affect.

* * *

**I know this chapter seems...out of the blue, but I promise this meeting is a setup for future things to come. Next chapter we get right back to Rachel and Jasper and all of that fun stuff.**

**Thank you for all your views, reviews, favorites and follows. I really appreciate it. **


	41. Marry Me Too?

Rachel moved around the loft busy with the task of finishing getting ready. She was starting to get antsy considering Santana was supposed to be home already, but she was nowhere to be found. At least Rachel knew that she was on her way, apparently something major had happened at the meeting. Rachel could tell from the excitement in Santana's voice when they spoke on the phone that major things were about to start happening.

Sitting down on the bed, Rachel was careful not to wrinkle her dress that was laying next to her. She looked over at her silver and black dress, it was her favorite dress, a Christmas present last year from Santana. Rachel had been worried earlier about what Santana was going to wear but thanks to some quick thinking, Santana had asked Rachel to pick out her outfit based on what she was wearing so that they complimented each other. Rachel looked at the choices she had made when she stood up from her sitting position on the bed. In Santana's closet she had found a lovely black dress and an outfit of grey dress pants with black pinstripes and a flowy grey top, either outfit was perfect, but what Santana decided to wear would depend on her mood when she got home.

"Rachel!" Santana yelled as she threw open the front door. The dogs danced around her feet happy now that their owner was home, they had really missed her today. Santana bent over to greet them with soft pets so they didn't knock her over in their excitement. Maybe I should take them to a doggy daycare with work about to get hectic, Santana thought as she stood up and smiled at Rachel who was looking down at her from the loft in just her underwear.

"What's going on? You need to get ready. We can talk while you shower and get dressed." Rachel really need to light a fire under Santana's ass if they were going to make their reservation at six this evening.

"I have so much to tell you! Okay, okay." Santana spun in circle while trying to gather her thoughts and figure out what her next move was going to be. Shower. Date night. She really needed to get going, she was supposed to be home over an hour ago and now she would only have about an hour to get ready. "I will get in the shower, will you bring my clothes down?" Santana shouted as she took off towards the bathroom stripping and leaving clothes scattered about the living room and kitchen. Today had went so much better than she expected and after hearing how determined Santana was to work with The St. Lawrence Children's Home, Peter had signed a contract with Santana to pay top dollar for her paintings. He could tell that her passion for art was out of this world and after looking at her newer work he was more determined than ever to get her involved in his projects.

Rachel smirked and started to giggle as she came down the stairs and caught a glimpse of Santana's bare ass as she stood there waiting for the water to warm just a little bit. Sometimes Rachel wondered where Santana's sense of modesty had went. Santana knew she needed to hurry but she didn't want to freeze her tits off if she didn't have to. She heard Rachel's approaching giggles and spun around giving Rachel a full show. Rachel stumbled a bit not expecting that. Santana cackled before she shut the bathroom door and jumped into the shower before Rachel could regain her bearings.

Huffing, Rachel walked closer to the bathroom and sat Santana's clothes down on a little end table that sat outside the bathroom door. She knocked on the door instead of going in so that neither of them would get distracted and lose even more time. "Santana?! I sat your clothes down out here in the hall. You didn't come upstairs to choose what you wanted to wear, so I brought both outfits down okay?" Rachel listened for Santana to acknowledge her before she walked back upstairs so that she too could get ready. Rachel looked around the living room as she made her ways upstairs, her eyes lingering on the clock over the mantel. They were going to make it on time as long as Santana got ready as quickly as possible.

* * *

They were late. Sure it was only ten minutes but to Rachel it felt like hours. She was just so excited to give Santana her ring and the photo album she thought she was going to explode. Santana pulled into a parking spot and looked around, she had a feeling that a few certain security guards were around but planned to make themselves invisible. She was also pretty sure that a certain asshole named Jasper was lurking around here too. Wait...what if he tried something tonight knowing they were all going to be in the same building. Santana began to panic a little, she was sure that Leroy and Bayani was here as well.

"Rachel." Santana spoke barely above a whisper as she looked out of the windshield. She flexed her fingers on the steering wheel. "What if Jasper tries something while we are all here? I mean, I can protect you and I know Duncan's guys are around as well...but what if."

The slightly panicked tone of Santana's voice had Rachel looking around in every direction. Had she seen Jasper or something? She was sure he wasn't here and hadn't been here, the guys had actually been updating her today since Santana was so busy. However, Santana didn't know any of that. "He's not here baby. He hasn't been here all day. If he was here or if he shows up the guys will move in. We're okay." Rachel was curious as to where this panic was coming from. This was the first time Santana had showed a real sliver of fear about what could happen. Mostly she had just played off being mad most of the time and taking charge of the situation that way.

"We're okay." Santana took a deep breath and released her grip on the steering wheel. She wasn't going to tell Rachel that while she had been in the bathroom, Santana had put on her holster. She was glad that the pants that Rachel had picked out for her were longer and they flared at the bottom creating a perfect hiding spot for her pistol. "Are you ready to eat? I am starving and I have to tell you about everything that happened today."

"Let's go." Rachel smiled and squeezed Santana's hand before she leaned over the center console and gave Santana a quick kiss before stepping out of the jeep.

* * *

As Rachel and Santana approached the hostess of the lodge restaurant, both women scanned the area as discretely as possible. Jasper was nowhere in site, but there was at least two familiar faces sitting at tables close to the front of the restaurant. There were also two familiar faces sitting at the main lodge entrance. Good, Santana thought in her head. There was no way that Jasper could get in here unseen.

Rachel kept Santana's left hand in her own as her left hand rested protectively on the bag she had chosen to carry tonight. It was bigger than normal considering it did have a photo album in it. Rachel was beginning to feel her giddiness come back to a full one hundred percent. Both women smiled and thanked the hostess as she waited for them to sit down. Rachel breathed a tiny sigh of relief when they weren't questioned or told they had to wait because of their tardiness. To be fair, the lodge wasn't super busy and the booth was reserved for her and Santana anyway, she just didn't like to be late.

"Ms. Berry would you still like a bottle of the house wine or something different this evening?" Rachel looked over to Santana who merely shrugged her shoulders. This date night was all Rachel's planning so she would be happy with whatever Rachel had ordered.

"The house wine please. Also can we just have the Chef's Choice menu." Rachel asked politely. The hostess pulled out a black leather file book with the words Chef's Choice painted in gold on the front. Rachel thanked her as the hostess walked away to get the waiter that would be handling Rachel and Santana's table.

"I'm glad you asked for the chef's menu. I want to see what Frankie has up his sleeve tonight." Santana scooted closer in the round red booth so that she could look at the menu with Rachel. She also just wanted to be closer to her fiance'.

"Ooohhh, it looks like he has two, three course meals going on tonight. This sounds pretty good, appetizers are French Cartines, main dish Caquilles St. Jacques and dessert is of course his special french silk pie. I think that's what I want." Rachel looked up at Santana who was staring at the menu with a pensive glare trying to decide.

"I think...I want the same. I don't want anything super heavy because we have a lot of celebrating to do tonight." Santana whispered in a sultry tone that caused a pleasant chill to run down Rachel's back.

"Yeah? What all do we have to celebrate?" Rachel responded equally as sultry. She knew one thing for sure they were going to be celebrating, but that was still under wraps for right now.

"First we are going to celebrate the auction I am donating paintings too to help raise money for The St. Lawrence Children's Home. Then we are going to celebrate the two point two million dollar check that will be written in my name after I do four paintings and two sign designs for Reed Productions. That's just my contract though, I got this guy to cut a production deal with Artie annnndddd the ladies from St. Lawrence Children Home agreed to let me and some of my friends decorate rooms. I have to call Artie, Mr. Reed and Mrs. Stidham after I figure out who all wants to do one so we can figure out movie royalties. I personally wrote that I didn't want any form of compensation for being in the documentary. I mean Mr. Reed is already paying for their sign and they need all the help they can get to cover renovations and start up costs for the new home. It's huge! Of course it's huge though, I mean it used to be a sister campus for Tisch. It's relatively small for a college campus though, it doesn't matter though, there are at least two other homes combining with St. Lawrence so they need the space." Santana waved her hands around excited. "Those kids are going to be in heaven, I mean I can't imagine how bad it must suck to be in the system. But, if I was their age and I had no where else to go, the new home would be the best place. Agh, there's just so much to tell you!"

Rachel watched in fascination as Santana went from being a teasing flirt to bouncing in her seat. She was radiating with such happy energy that Rachel felt like this was the best time to break out the photo album. They hadn't even ordered yet. Santana's happiness was just so contagious.

"I got you a present." Rachel blurted. Santana stared back at her with wide eyes in shock.

"You got me a present? What for? Oh my gosh..did I forget an anniversary or a birthday? Wait no, it's not either of those things." Santana continued to rambled, she was trying to figure out why Rachel had gotten her a gift.

"No, you didn't miss anything. I just got you something that I think you deserve. So here." Rachel reached over in bag and pulled out a baby blue box that had white ribbon tide around it.

"Rachel...you really shouldn't have got me anything. I don't have anything for you and now I feel bad." Santana pouted as she looked down at the box that was now sitting in front of her.

"Technically you already gave me the gift that goes with this one. So open it." Rachel motioned towards the box. She was going to rip it open herself if Santana didn't get a move on.

Santana began to tentatively open the box with a shy smile on her face. She was glad that Rachel had opted to get the private booth for them tonight, if whatever was in this box made her cry no one would know except for Rachel. Santana gasped as she saw the photo album laying there in the box. Running her hand over the cover she carefully picked it up so that Rachel could move the box out of the way. "Rachel this is beautiful."

"Look inside." Rachel scooted closer so that she could see the pictures as well even though she had looked at them countless times.

Santana was in awe as she began to flip through the photo album. She chuckled at one of the pictures of her and Rachel being typical tourists at The Leaning Tower of Pisa. They were so off in the picture. That had been a great mini vacation when Santana was ask to speak to several art classes thanks to a recommendation from an old professor. "Rachel..this is amazing. I notice a bit of a pattern here..is this our entire relationship? You're not breaking up with me are you and this is your twisted way of documenting it or something?"

"No silly. Keep looking. Go all the way to the end." Santana began to flip through the pictures faster...she really wanted to see what was in the back. Her hand froze when she finally reached the last page and saw a wedding invitation. It was royal blue embossed with silver swirls and writing. Confused at first, Santana took the time to read through the invitation. She paused when she reached the bottom and saw the question Will You Marry Me?

Turning to look at Rachel, tears began to fall as Santana saw a beautiful black diamond princess cut ring being held up by Rachel who was grinning from ear to ear. "I know you already proposed and gave me a beautiful ring, but I wanted to do the same for you. You're my forever love and you deserve to wear a ring as well. I want everyone to know that you are mine as much as I am yours. I love you so much. So I, Rachel Berry formally ask you Santana Lopez, will you you marry me?" Rachel now had tears spilling from her eyes as Santana nodded her head quickly with a strangled yes. She couldn't stop her hand from shaking as she removed the black diamond ring from it's box to place it on Santana's hand. It was perfect. They were so lost in their own little world that they hadn't even noticed the waiter that had brought their wine and was lingering around waiting to take their order.


	42. Time Is Up

Sean shifted in his seat as he watched the side entrance of the lodge restaurant. He had a clear shot of the front desk as long as no one blocked his view. They had been sitting here for about an hour now and Jasper hadn't showed. He must still be in his car which had pulled into the lodge parking lot ten minutes ago. Sean could feel the sweat beading on his neck, something bad was going to happen, he could feel it in his gut. Something was definitely wrong, sliding his chair out from the table, he made his way slowly towards the side entrance, his hand hovering over his holster...just in case.

* * *

Jasper was furious, those idiots that Santana and Rachel had hired intercepted his drop off today. How they knew about the order he wasn't sure but the box of ammunition that was to be delivered hours ago was missing. He had discovered his order was to arrive at around noon which was fine, it would set there until he got off of work, but when he got home it was nowhere to be seen. After calling the shipping company and finding out the package in fact had been delivered, Jasper started trying to figure out what had happened to it. After reviewing his security camera he found out that two men dress in all black had taken the box. He wasn't stupid, they had something to do with it and he couldn't wait any longer. His uncle was going to be so proud.

It was now or never, doing this was risky and it was going to be messy. Jasper knew he would be lucky if he got out of this alive. There was no doubt in his mind that Santana and Rachel had security in the lodge with them. He smirked, despite them being in a private booth, Jasper had the perfect view of both women. They were hunched over looking at some kind of book spread out on the table that they were eating at. He had a plan, it was flimsy at best, but it was a plan. First he was going to find a side entrance, he couldn't risk being seen so early on if he walked in the front. Get on the elevator and ride to Leroy and Bayani's room. Leroy needed to go first, then he was going to make his way down to the restaurant, anyone who decided to step in his way wasn't going to last long.

Jasper checked the magazine of his Glock pistol before he loaded it up. His hands were shaking, the gun felt foreign in his hand. He chuckled to himself, a nervous laugh. He was about to go on what would be called a murdering spree with a gun he received for Christmas a few years ago. It couldn't be more morbid if he tried. This definitely wasn't how he originally intended to do any of this, but time was running out. He needed to do this for his uncle and for the justice of his aunt. There was supposed to be more time for everything and everyone! Jasper started slamming his hands on the steering wheel of his car, he needed to stop before he drew attention to himself. The lodge was packed now, people were checking in the for the weekend. Oh how he wished those people weren't going to have to witness this. It was time.

* * *

As Sean made his way towards the side entrance he caught the eye of James whom was sitting at one of the tables closest to the front entrance. He nodded his head once to the side, signaling that he was stepping out of the area. James looked around. Was Jasper inside and they had missed him? There hadn't been any movement outside since his phone had pinged, alerting him that Jasper's car was on the move followed by another ping letting him know that Jasper's car had shut off.

James stood up and followed Sean, the other two that had been left sitting at their respective tables knew that if needed they would be addressed. For now they were to stay put. As one of the waiters walked passed, James reached out and touched his arm.

"Do these doors lock from the inside?" He spoke quietly as to not alarm anyone.

"Yes sir. Why?" The kid looked nervous.

"Do not make any fast paced moves. In a few minutes those two men," James pointed to Jarrod and Brandon, "may get up and leave. After they leave, lock both entrance doors. If you hear any loud noises, they're going to leave quickly so watch out. Once they leave lock the doors right then and pull a fire alarm. Help everyone leave through the kitchen, there will be someone outside waiting to help you. Do you understand?" James looked the boy in the eye, gosh this kid couldn't be older than sixteen and he was putting this much pressure on him.

"I will lose my job if I do something like that. Who are you? Who is outside? Why should I listen to you?" The boy gasped and began to stutter, he actually liked working for Frankie and the lodge. It was the best paid summer job he had ever had before. This man was making him feel really uneasy.

"I'm a former Marine and currently I am a security guard working on a case. There are two women in here who could be in danger. If they're in danger then everyone could be in danger. I need you to do this. Outside are some of my guys and if anything happens they will meet you at the loading dock right outside the kitchen exit." James spoke lowly, he didn't really have time to be explaining all of this to a kid, but he was the only one who was in reach.

"Okay..I can do it. Wait until those two leave whenever and then lock the doors. After I lock the doors I pull the fire alarm and get people to exit through the kitchen where some other people like you will be waiting for us." The boy looked at James for confirmation.

"Thank you. Listen son, you're going to be fine if you do what I said. You can do this." James patted the boy on the shoulder as he walked away to catch up with Sean.

The boy stood there stunned, he had no idea what that was about but for some reason he felt the compelling need to do as this man said. Apparently something big was about to happen if he wanted everyone out. The boy looked around the room trying to figure out who exactly was the target, he wanted to make sure they definitely got out.

* * *

Sean stood casually outside the side entrance of the restaurant. He saw James talking to a waiter through the glass doors. He must be giving him instructions Sean mused to himself, hopefully whatever James was saying wouldn't have to happen.

"Talk to me Sean. What's going on?" James asked as she stepped out of the restaurant and closed the door. He glanced back and saw the waiter watching him closely. James tapped his watch letting him to know to watch the time. The boy nodded once before she scurried away to go about his duties like normal.

"I have this feeling that something is about to happen. I've had a bad feeling since Gerald and Kaiden played mailman today at Jasper's apartment. We know he is here, but where is he?" Sean tapped his fingers along the wall as he studied everyone standing at the front desk.

"How many side entries does the lodge have again?" James asked as he looked down at his phone. There was nothing, no messages or calls from any of the men outside. The place was surrounded, literally.

"Uhm, five. Only two of them are manually locked. The other three are automatically locked when they close, you have to have a staff key to get in them from the outside. He shouldn't be able to get in any of the doors though, we are set up so that he has to enter through the front, if he comes in that is." Sean was trying to be a little optimistic in hoping that Jasper would just leave instead of trying to come in, but he wasn't sure how long that optimism would hold out.

"You're sure they are all covered?"

"Yes. Janice and Cindy were on the manual doors and Garrett, Joe, and Randy are making rounds and watching the others." Sean felt like he was a broken record sometimes, always having to repeat himself. Really James didn't mean to sound so condescending, he was stressed and nervous about this whole thing.

"Why is Janice and Cindy here? I thought they had a job to work tonight."

"Kitty and Bree got called into work at the station and we needed the help." Sean sighed like he was beyond disappointed. He had been looking forward to seeing Bree tonight even if it was under these circumstances. "Janice and Cindy were free because the gig they had going on was cancelled. Something about a water pipe bursting in the theater. They took their _stars _home early and then came here." Sean rolled his eyes, Janice and Cindy were amazing security guards but sometimes they liked to brag about whatever celebrity they were working with.

"Awh, don't sound so disappointed Sean." James mocked.

"Shut up. Let's go do a round upstairs and come back down." Sean suggested as he tried to hide his blush. He was a dark skinned man, he wasn't supposed to blush like a little school boy!

"Lead the way. Santana and Rachel will be fine. Brandon and Jerrod are in there with them still, they know not to leave until we signal for them or they hear...well basically hear gun shots."

* * *

Leroy and Bayani were coming out of their room with the intentions of actually going home for once when they heard the stairwell door open at the end of the hallway. Bayani ever the curious one paused and leaned back on his heels, his hands in his pockets. His eyes widened in surprise and shock when a gun was pointed at him. He jumped into the elevator and began pressing the lobby floor button as fast as finger would go.

Leroy chuckled behind him. "You know pressing the button like that won't help the doors close any faster."

Bayani turned around, his eyes beginning to tear up. "There's a guy in the hall with a gun."

"What?!" Leroy squawked. Before he could think Leroy stuck his head out of the elevator to see none other than Jasper approaching them with a gun. "Oh shit." He quickly jerked his head back as the doors were closing and the unmistakable sound of a gun shot rang out.

* * *

Jasper took off running towards the elevator as soon as he realized he had missed. He pressed the button rapidly hoping to stop the elevator and get the doors to reopen. It was a shot in the dark but sometimes it happened.

"SON OF A BITCH!" Jasper yelled as he pounded his fists on the doors.

* * *

Coming up the opposite stairwell was James and Sean. They took off running as soon as they heard the sound of a gun go off. They had no idea what they were about to walk up on. All they knew was that for sure the sound had came from this floor and that Leroy and Bayani's room was up here. Running up the stairs was no easy task even in top physical condition, just a few more steps and they would be there.

* * *

Jasper turned around on his heel as he gave the elevator doors one more swift kick and a hard punch. He now had to get out of here since he knew a lot of people had probably heard that gun shot. Stupid! Stupid! You shouldn't have been so trigger happy. Jasper couldn't resist himself, he punch the doors once more for good measure. He began walking in a quick pace with the intentions of leaving when he saw two men stumble out of the stairwell door at the opposite end of the hallway.

His eyes bulged as he seen both of them reach for something in their waist bands. Jasper took off running down the hall in an attempt to make it back down to the door that he had came in through. Hopefully they wouldn't catch him or shoot him in the back on the way down. He had to move quick if he was going to get to Rachel and Santana.


	43. Grazed

"What was that?" Santana placed one hand on the side of the booth as she looked around the lattice enclosed space towards the kitchen. She could see Frankie though the small window gesturing wildly with his hands."Uh ohhh..someone is in troubleeee." Santana laughed as she watched Frankie's face get redder and redder. She and Rachel could hear him cursing in French when the door opened and the hostess who had seated them earlier came out with a pained expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry Ms. Lopez and Ms. Berry, two of our waiters, one of which was carrying your dessert, crashed into each other. Chef Frankie is going to prepare you fresh ones as soon as possible. Is there anything at all I can do for you while you wait?" Santana was struggling to not laugh. Yes she had worked in a diner before and she knew the ends and outs of working in a kitchen and trying to deliver food. The first rule you learn in any kitchen is to always pay attention. Sure accidents happen and it royally sucked when they did, but that didn't make it any less funny to Santana. She was positive that a few people had laughed at her during her first week at the diner when she had dropped a tray full of drinks and someone's food. Plus, she could always leave a very large tip for secretly laughing, that was sure to more than make up for it.

"It's perfectly fine. We don't mind the wait and I think we are good for now." Rachel assured the hostess who scurried off as soon as she realized that the women didn't need anything. This was her first big night and being responsible for two celebrities such as Santana and Rachel was a little overwhelming, she could understand how Masyn had gotten distracted.

Rachel and Santana settled back down into their booth to wait on their dessert. They began to look at the photo album again, Rachel more so than Santana since Santana couldn't help but to keep looking at her ring. She had no idea that Rachel was going to do this tonight, she never expected a ring of her own. Santana had just been happy to give Rachel a ring.

The couple's happy bubble was burst once again when they heard a slam come from the front of the restaurant.

* * *

Jasper was running full speed down the lobby stairs, he had hoped that by changing direction and exiting out the front that he would throw the two goons off of his trail. As he was running down the stairs he suddenly remembered that Rachel and Santana were in the restaurant, hopefully they hadn't left after they heard the gun shot. Jasper continued to take as many steps as he could to reach the doors faster. Once he hit the bottom step, Jasper stumbled and sent himself sliding straight into the side entrance doors of the restaurant. Everyone inside froze and looked his way with wide eyes.

These people didn't need to be looking at him. With one hand on the floor pushing himself up, Jasper grasped his gun in his right hand and aimed directly at the booth in the back. If this was the only shot he was going to have he was damn well going to take it.

* * *

Santana stood up and moved around the table to exit the booth. Something was going on, she could feel it just like she had mentioned to Rachel earlier. Her eyes widened she saw Jasper laying on the floor in the lobby. What in the hell was he doing? Santana reached for her holster as soon as she saw what Jasper was doing. The two security guards from Duncan's team must have seen what was happening too as they both were on their feet in an instant.

"Santana, what's going..." Rachel's words trailed off as she took in the scene before her. Santana had her gun drawn. Two of their security guards was running out of the front doors and around the front of the building to try and apprehend Jasper without him seeing them. What they didn't see was the fact that Jasper already had his gun drawn and was aiming it...right at Santana and Rachel.

* * *

Jasper smiled when he seen that both Santana and Rachel were now in his direct line of fire. He shifted his gun position slightly to the right and placed his finger on the trigger giving it a hard pull. The sound of guns echoed off the walls as people behind him began to scream and run for cover. The one who mattered was done for..dead. His uncle was going to be so proud of him. Jasper didn't have long to revel in his accomplishment as he felt a white hot fire spread all along his side and torso. Dropping his gun, another shot rang out as Jasper reached his right hand down to his ribs and gasped when he saw blood. There was no mistaken that he too had been shot. Jasper's eyes rolled back in his head as he felt four bodies dive on top of him. It was totally worth it, it was all finally over and his uncle wouldn't have to worry anymore.

* * *

Santana didn't even think as she saw Jasper move his hand and pull the trigger. She knew he wasn't aiming at her, he was aiming at Rachel. With little time to react, Santana aimed and pulled the trigger of her own pistol while pushing Rachel behind her trying to protect her. Santana had moved so quickly that she didn't realize that when she pushed, Rachel had taken a hold of her hand and was pulling Santana with her. They landed with a hard thud on top of one another on the floor.

Rachel had tears streaming down her face as she looked up at Santana. Or so Santana thought. Rachel was looking a little past Santana at her hand. Rachel moved her fingers, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her left hand was covered in blood. There was no way it was hers, the only other person it could belong to was..."Santana." Rachel whispered. "You've been shot."

"What?" Santana asked confused as she tried to push herself off of Rachel. She could hear James and Sean screaming about shots fired and the shooter was injured but alive and being placed in cuffs but they needed back up.

"You've been shot!" Rachel screamed as she tried to scramble out from under Santana so that she could see for herself.

Santana screamed out in agony as she placed her right hand on the floor to try and raise herself up more so that Rachel could sit up. Turning to look over her shoulder, Santana sighed in relief when she seen that yes she had been shot but it was only a graze. "I'm okay. I'm okay, it's only a graze." Santana gritted her teeth as she put her weight onto her left hand and was able to push herself up on her knees. Rachel who was now also sitting up, moved around Santana to grab a napkin off the table. There wasn't much that she knew about first aid, but she did know to apply pressure to a bleeding wound. Rachel was crying harder now as she tried to hold Santana's arm and apply pressure at the same time without hurting Santana even more.

Seeing the agony on Rachel's face, Santana reached out and placed her left hand on top of Rachel's and helped her press down. She wanted to scream again, the pain was setting in as her adrenaline wore off, but that would only scare Rachel even more and she didn't want to do that at all.

"Hey..look at me." Santana waited for Rachel to make eye contact. "I'm okay. It's like a super bad case of road rash, no biggy."

"No biggy?!" Rachel could feel the rage setting in. How could Santana just brush this off?! "You fell on top me of trying to protect me from this! Santana you literally took a bullet for me?! It's more than just a no biggy! Why would you do something so stupid! If he had pulled the trigger a fraction of a second later or if I hadn't of pulled you with me you would have been dead dammit! Dead!" Rachel weakly pounded her fist on Santana's chest.

"I'm not dead. If I had been a fraction of a second slower, he would have killed you! I would gladly take a grazed bullet wound over not losing you any day! I told you before I would do whatever I could to protect you and I will not apologize for that." Santana pulled Rachel closer to her body and held her.

Rachel shifted her eyes to look out of the shattered glass door. Jasper was being loaded onto a stretcher. When had an ambulance gotten here? Why was an EMT not looking at Santana's arm? Rachel was shook from her thoughts when Leroy and Bayani approached them. They both were breathing heavy.

"Are you two alright?" Leroy asked as he leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. From his vantage point he couldn't see Santana's arm.

"I'm fine. Santana needs help...she's..she's been shot." Rachel could feel the words getting hung in her throat. It felt like every emotion from the wreck was once again playing through her mind. The fear of losing Santana again was trying to consume her. This would make twice that Santana had put herself in extreme danger to protect her.

Rachel vaguely heard her father yelling that they needed a medic. She needed reassurance that Santana was still there. Rachel rested her head on Santana's chest and listened to her heart beat, it was beating fast at the moment. This was all so overwhelming, something in Jasper had finally snapped. Santana had taken a bullet for her. The only word that came to mind to describe all of this was...crazy. Was the nightmare that had been lingering in the back of their heads finally over? Could they all move on with their lives and never have to worry about any of this ever again? Time would only tell.

* * *

Santana hissed in pain as Dr. Rose covered her with a lead apron so that she could make sure that Santana had indeed only been grazed by a bullet. Now that all of her adrenaline was officially gone, her arm was throbbing. Could this night get any worse? Santana shook the thought from her head, if she was morbid she could come up with a thousand and one ways that the night could get worse. However, she wasn't going to think like that. She was safe, Rachel and Leroy were safe, everyone was safe now.

Rachel held her breath as she watched Dr. Rose position Santana so that she could get the best x-ray possible to make sure there were no bullet fragments or an actual bullet in Santana's arm. She could tell from the look on Santana's face that she was in pain. It had taken some convincing to even get Santana to come and see Dr. Rose, the woman was just going to go home! Rachel had been livid and after a spat about letting at least the medic check her out, Rachel had climbed in the jeep to drive and just when Santana thought they were going to go on home, Rachel had turned and headed straight for the clinic thankful that Dr. Rose was still there.

"Okay..I think we got it. Let me take this off and then nurse Kim will take you back to your room. If it's clean then we will stitch you up and you can be on your way Santana." Dr. Rose spoke quietly like she always did. She motioned for the nurse to step closer towards Santana who growled at the woman.

"I can walk just fine by myself." Santana scoffed as she left the x-ray lab holding the bandage that the medic had placed on her arm.

"Santana don't be rude." Rachel scolded as she followed along back down the blue carpeted hallway.

"I wouldn't have to be rude if you had just taken me home like you said you would. The medic even said it wasn't as bad as it looked when it was bleeding." Santana rolled her eyes as she kept walking, ignoring the staring from nurse Kim.

"Stop it." Rachel took two long steps to get in front of Santana to stop her from walking away. "I know you're tired and you're hurting, but that's never an excuse to be mean. Especially to me. Now we're going to go in there and get that cleaned and stitched up, then we are going to go home and relax because I know we won't be sleeping for a while. We had an amazing night until the end, let's get back to that amazing part, at least for tonight. I'm sure Chief Sylvester will come by in the morning." Rachel looked into Santana's eyes trying to convey just how much she needed for this night to end on somewhat of a better note.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." Santana muttered as she looked down at the floor in disappointment in herself.

"Santana...stop demeaning yourself like that. I know that's what you do when you look at the floor after you apologize." Rachel waited for Santana to look up. It took a moment but finally once Santana did look up, Rachel kissed her lightly on the lips. "It's okay. We're okay." Santana didn't say anything else, she just nodded and followed nurse Kim back to her room as Rachel laced their fingers together with Santana's good hand. Things would be okay.


	44. Don't Be Snappy

Santana huffed and gritted her teeth as Dr. Rose continued to stitch her arm up. It felt like they had been here for hours already and Santana was more than eager to get home. Rachel sat next to Santana on her right side lost in her own little world. Everything that had happened tonight kept replaying in her head. Santana saved her life, but in return Rachel had also saved Santana's. When Jasper fired his pistol Santana pushed Rachel behind her, Rachel didn't realize she was holding Santana's hand until Santana was spinning and falling. If Rachel had been a fraction of a second slower the bullet would have went straight through Santana's arm or worse...her chest. Luckily for them either the sights on Jasper's gun was off or Jasper was just a horrible aim.

Rachel peeped around Santana's front to try and see how much Dr. Rose had left to do. She couldn't see much since the graze was right across the top of Santana's bicep. She sighed as she rested her head on Santana's shoulder stifling a yawn.

"Almost done. Then you two can go home. You're lucky I was still here or you would probably be in St. Lawrence at the hospital until dawn." Dr. Rose spoke trying to keep up small talk. She wasn't going to ask questions about what all had happened. The nurse who was closing up with her had gotten a call from her husband telling her that he was on his way home from work at the station and had to turn around and go back because of a shooting at the lodge. The only details he had at the moment was that two people had been injured, the shooter and a civilian. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together when Santana and Rachel pulled into the parking lot and Dr. Rose saw that Santana was holding her arm that was already wrapped in bandages. "Finished." Dr. Rose stepped back and removed her gloves. "You know the drill with stitches, keep them clean and dry but don't forget to them breathe every once in a while. Come back in two weeks and we will check to see if they can be removed. If it starts to look infected come back immediately."

Santana nodded along, she knew all of this. Throughout her life she had had a few sets of stitches. "Do you need my insurance?"

"Is it still the same as you have always had?" Dr. Rose asked as she headed for the door to exit the room. Santana nodded her head as she slid off the exam table. "It's still on your file then. It's been great seeing you, wish the circumstances could have been better though."

As all three women went to exit the exam room an idea popped into Santana's head. "Hey..can I ask you something?"

"You just did." Dr. Rose replied with a smirk. Rachel snorted from where she was standing behind Santana holding her good hand.

"Haha. You're so clever Doc. I'm being serious for once. I just got involved with The St. Lawrence Children's Home and I was wondering if you would be interested in decorating/ donating a room? Maybe do one under the clinics name? They're doing a documentary so there's a chance you will be filmed but we can work that out with them." Santana asked nervously. She wasn't used to asking people for things so doing this was a big challenge.

"I would love to! Oh can I decorate a nursery? I bet Ryder would love to do a little boys room." Dr. Rose swooned.

"Really?" Santana was a little shocked at how quickly Marley had been ready to agree.

"Of course! Just let me know what I need to do." Marley bounced on her toes.

"Well, after I get a list of people who want to decorate there will be a big meeting to work out the details. I will call when I know more. Is that okay?"

"That's perfect. Oh I can't wait to tell Ryder. You two have a nice night." Marley skipped away to get into her car. Santana looked around puzzled, when did they get to the parking lot? She must have been so lost in conversation that she hadn't realized they were walking and talking.

"You ready to go home?" Rachel asked as she lead Santana to the jeep.

"More than ready." Santana answered as she waited for Rachel to unlock the doors so she could climb in.

* * *

Rachel mumbled and shifted in the bed when she heard a continuous knocking sound. What in the world? She thought to herself as she flipped over onto her stomach and tried to determine where the noise was coming from. Listening closely Rachel determined that duh, someone was at the door. "We really need to tell Duncan not to let anyone in the gate before ten in the morning." Rachel grumbled as she sat up in bed, resting her bare feet on the hardwood floor of the loft.

"It's probably Sue." Santana replied groggily.

"Why does she always have to show up so early?" Rachel whined while adjusting her tank top so that her boobs weren't popping out.

"I'll be down in a minute." Santana took a deep breath and wiggled around under the covers, she had had no intentions of getting up anytime soon, but she knew that was about to change.

"Don't go back to sleep Santana, if I have to be up so do you. We can take a nap after she leaves." Rachel reached over and slapped at where she thought Santana's ass would be.

"Don't start something you can't finish." Santana smirked before groaning as she sat up in bed. She sat on the edge of the bed for a moment willing her eyes to stay open.

"Oh, I'll finish it alright, just not right now." The knocking started again, but this time it was louder. "She's going to beat the damn door down." Rachel said under her breath as she finally stood up and made her way down the stairs to the front door.

When Rachel swung the door open she was surprised to see not just Sue standing there but also Shelby, Cassie and Leroy. Family get together! "Uh..good morning." Rachel looked at each person confused, what were they all doing here?

"Berry." Sue greeted as she stepped around Rachel and made her ways towards the kitchen. Well just come on in! Shelby was the next to react as she surged forward and wrapped her arms around Rachel. Cassie and Leroy were a little more reserved in their greeting as they waited patiently for Rachel to actually welcome them in.

"Come in Dad, you too Cassie. Uh Shelby, I can't breathe." Rachel had no idea what to think about such a forceful hug from her mother.

"Sorry. Sorry." Shelby finally released her hold on Rachel and took a half step back while wiping her eyes. "I just, I heard about everything that happened last night. I wanted to see you then, but I had no idea where you lived so I called Leroy this morning and he came and picked up Cassie and I."

Rachel looked over at her father. "You drove all the way to St. Lawrence to pick them up?"

"It was no biggy. Bayani had to go to the lodge first thing this morning and I knew I was coming up here with Sue so I asked if they would like to join me instead of me just rattling off directions. We actually had a lovely breakfast before we met up with Sue at the station. Is all of us being here okay?" Leroy finished in a whisper so that Rachel was the only one to hear him, he was nervous, it hadn't really hit him that he may have crossed a line until it was too late.

"I'm...surprised you're all here. But it's okay. Let's go into the kitchen and have some coffee that I assume Chief Sylvester is already making." Rachel smiled and motioned towards the entry way of the kitchen.

"You got that right short stuff. Becky's coffee at the station is practically sludge and Santana always has the good stuff." Sue was standing at the stove waiting on the water to boil so that she could add it to the coffee press. It always amused Rachel that Sue knew her way around their kitchen so well. Apparently Santana never changed where she stored things over the years.

* * *

The smell of coffee wafting up the steps brought Santana out of her nap that she had decided to take while sitting on the side of the bed. She wasn't breaking the 'don't go back to sleep rule' if she wasn't laying down, but that coffee smelt amazing.

Stumbling and mumbling her way down the stairs, Santana was a little shocked to see five people sitting in her and Rachel's kitchen. Everyone was looking at her with amused smiles on their faces. What? Santana looked down at herself, she wasn't naked or anything. So why were they smiling? "What's up with the faces?" Santana side eyed everyone as she made her way over the cupboard to grab a coffee mug.

"Nothing babe, just looking at how cute you are." Rachel gave Santana her megawatt smile.

"Okay." Santana said warily as she poured some creamer into her mug before adding her coffee. "I'm not trying to be rude, but..."

"That means she's about to be rude." Sue cut in.

"I am not." Santana rolled her eyes before lifting her coffee mug to her lips to take a sip. "Ahh, yeah that's good stuff. Back to what I was saying, is there a specific reason you are _all_ here or did you just happen to decide to all stop in for a visit?" Santana arched her eyebrow as she looked at every one over the rim of her cup.

"I am here on business, everyone else came for a visit." Sue answered for everyone as she took a seat next to Cassie at the kitchen island.

"Fair enough." Santana shrugged her shoulders mentally hissing in pain. At least no one could see her bandage under her t-shirt sleeve. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back, Santana tried to overcome the sudden throbbing in her arm.

"How are you feeling this morning Lopez?" Cassie asked with concern. She was sitting next to Shelby at the island, it felt slightly awkward being here after how Shelby and Rachel last left things, but maybe this would be a good day to start mending fences again.

Santana didn't say anything, she couldn't. She was too busy gritting her teeth waiting on the initial shock of pain to fade. Rachel could see that Santana's knuckles were starting to turn white from where she was gripping her coffee mug so hard. Worried, Rachel stepped away from the island and over to Santana and gently pried the mug out of her hands. "Baby, can you look at me?" Santana slowly lowered her head, she could feel her eyes watering up. "Do you need some pain meds?" Rachel waited for Santana to nod her head before she went to the bathroom to retrieve some ibuprofen. Santana took the ibuprofen with a thankful sigh. The wound itself was still very tender as it would be since it had only been roughly ten hours or so since she had gotten shot and anytime you have a wound the area around said wound is going to be sore also.

"I'm okay now." Santana smiled and wrapped her arm around Rachel's waist pulling the woman into her side. "Chief, you mentioned you were here on business? What do we know? Has anything changed with Charles? Did Jasper...did Jasper make it?" Santana let the question hang in the air.

"It was touch and go there for a while but he made it through surgery. Nothing has changed with Charles, I don't know if he is aware of anything that happened last night yet, but we are hoping that we will find some evidence in Jasper's apartment that links Charles to all of this. Detective Beiste has been working on getting the warrants this morning. We're on the path to finally solving this whole thing so that you two can get back to your life." Sue was happy that things were getting closer to an end. Sometimes these cases sucked the life out of you and it was even worse when it involved people who were considered family. Everyone deserved to be able to get back to as normal of a life as possible.


	45. I Could Have Killed Him

Santana stood beside Rachel in silent relief...she hadn't killed Jasper. Even though she had openly stated that she wanted to kill him, the thought that she might have, had been unsettling. It wouldn't have mattered when they called it self-defense and protecting someone, the fact that Santana could have took away the life of someone else shook her to her core. She knew she wasn't the only one who had shot Jasper, one of the guys on the security team, maybe Sean or James had also fired their weapon also.

"He was in surgery most of the...Lopez are you with us still?" Chief Sylvester had been explaining everything she knew about Jasper's condition when she noticed the vacant stare on Santana's face.

"I almost killed him." Santana whispered to herself as she took a step away from Rachel. Everyone in the kitchen was staring at her with wide eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked as she moved to follow Santana, however the woman took another step back.

"When Jasper shot at us, I fired my gun at him. I could have killed him." Santana wasn't sure where this new found panic was coming from. Maybe the realization was just now settling in since her mind was clear of the fogginess from last night. Santana's hands began to shake as she studied them, her hands that held Rachel with such care, that petted her dogs and kept them alive and healthy. Her hands that were meant to hold and care for children one day, could very well still have blood on them if Jasper died. Santana's stomach churned, she was going to be sick. In a flash she was running from the kitchen and out the front door, she just needed some fresh air, a moment to clear her head.

Rachel looked around the kitchen at the horrified looks on everyone's faces except for Sue. She had a look of..empathy. "I should go check on her." Rachel muttered as she started towards the front door.

"Wait...let me go first." Sue took quick strides across the kitchen in an attempt to stop Rachel who was already half way across the living room.

Rachel stopped and nodded for Sue to go ahead. The woman held her breath as she exited the cabin, preparing herself for the state that she was about to see Santana in.

* * *

Santana was on her knees gripping the grass with both hands trying to ward off the bout of nausea that had set in. Don't puke, she kept telling her body. Maybe if she repeated it enough it would work. Sue walked closer keeping her pace steady as she placed her hands in her pockets. "I was six months out of the academy the first time I had to fire my weapon and I thought I had killed someone. You weren't born yet, heck you hadn't even been thought of." Sue chuckled to herself. "New York City Police Department, it was my dream job to work for one of the most well known police force's in the world." Santana listened to Sue talk, her breathing had slowly began to calm down. "When you're a rookie, they do everything they can to try and break you. If they themselves can't break you then they send you to the worst parts of town hoping that will break you...or get you killed. " Sue came to a stop next to Santana's kneeling form. "I was running third shift with my partner and we got a call about an armed robbery, we were the closest so we took off. The guy was running down a side street when we got there, so being the faster one between me and my old weezer of a partner, I took off after him. As soon as he saw me he turned around and fired his gun at me. I returned fire and hit him, he went down. At that moment in time, I thought I had killed him because he went down. I was so shaken up that my Chief had to escort me back to his patrol car when he got there, I didn't know that my leg had been grazed by the guys bullet until a medic showed up. Anyway, sometime later I found out I had shot the guy in the ass and that I didn't kill him. I know that panic you're feeling right now until someone explained what actually happened to me."

"What do you mean?" Santana looked up confused.

"You may have almost killed Jasper, but you didn't kill him. You hit him in the shoulder. The whole point Santana is that you're not a killer. That feeling in your stomach right now is proof enough that you would never go out of your way to hurt someone like that. You were protecting yourself and Rachel, there's no reason to feel guilt over that. But I will tell you now, if you think you need to, it's okay to talk to someone." Sue was taking on a tone that Santana rarely ever saw.

"You mean like therapy?" Santana asked.

"I do mean therapy. I have seen a therapist on and off for years, you kind of have to sometimes when you're in my line of work. If you don't want to, at least talk to Rachel, don't shut her out. I'm sure she's waiting on the porch behind me isn't she?" Sue grinned as she rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet.

Santana looked over her shoulder around Sue's legs and smiled. Rachel was indeed standing on the porch, waiting on the first step for the first sign that it was okay for her to approach Santana. "Yeah, she is." Santana looked back up at Sue, this woman was the closest thing to a parent that she still had. If she was going to listen to anybody, it was a good idea for it to be Sue Sylvester. "I think I will be okay. I didn't kill him and I don't plan to ever purposely aim my gun at someone else ever again, unless I absolutely have to." Santana squinted her eyes. Damn, the sun was bright, Sue's head wasn't doing much to block it out. "I just..I couldn't and still can't comprehend that I could have killed someone."

"You could have, but you didn't. Don't get caught up in the what if's, it's a never ending cycle of guilt and anxiousness. You did nothing wrong. Like I said, talk to someone if you need too, especially because you can't carry something heavy like that around with the big projects you have coming up."

"How did you know about that?" Santana asked as she finally began to stand from her poistion on the ground. Slowly she dusted her knees off before walking beside Sue towards the porch. She was thankful that her chest felt lighter than it had before.

"Please." Sue scoffed. "Me and Agetha go way back. I'm sad to say I met her under dire circumstances, but she's a great person. She really goes all out for those kids. Every kid whether they are a day old or about to age out of the system is treated as one of her own. She goes out of her way to make sure that every day each child has three meals a day, good clothes and shoes, books and toys galore and that they are safe. She even makes sure they don't miss any lessons if they can't attend their regular school. That home is her pride and joy. The system is hard on any child, but with Agetha Stidham and her group of truly devoted workers those kids are always well taken care of. You're doing an amazing thing for them."

"So does that mean I can't ask you and the department to donate/decorate some rooms?" Santana gave a sheepish grin.

"My department has been signed up to do a couple of rooms for a while now." Sue stopped at the bottom step of the porch and watched Rachel anxiously look at Santana. "I will leave you two alone to talk, I'm going to see what the others are doing."

* * *

Rachel didn't say anything as she looked at Santana who was standing on the bottom step with her arms crossed and her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Santana opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. She huffed before sitting down on the top step, pulling her knees up to chest. "Do you still trust me?" Santana asked quietly without looking up.

"Of course I trust you." Rachel responded without hesitation. "Why wouldn't I trust you?" She asked as she sat down beside Santana and mirrored her position.

"I almost killed Jasper."

"But you didn't."

"I could have. If I had moved my hand over, I would have shot him right in the head." Santana let the comment hang in the air. Even after her talk with Sue, the reality of the situation was still very much present.

"A lot of things could have happened last night, but they didn't. If things had went differently last night, one of us probably wouldn't be sitting here. You helped protect us from that. Santana you didn't think twice about stepping in front of me. You didn't even put your finger on the trigger of your gun until you were sure he was going to shoot at us. You're not a bad person honey, I believe in you. Everyone believes in you." Rachel turned her face to rest her forehead on the side of Santana's head.

"Sue thinks I should see someone."

"If you think it will help, then I will support you one hundred percent. You can't live with his feeling the rest of your life. I don't want you to be afraid to touch me because you think you might hurt me." Rachel shifted her head slightly so that her lips rested on Santana's ear. "I love when you touch me Santana." Rachel whispered.

Santana giggled moving her head away slightly, she knew Rachel was trying to distract her from all the heavy stuff that was floating around in her head. It was definitely working. "We're only partially alone. Someone may come out here looking for us." Rachel just shrugged her shoulders and began to kiss down Santana's neck. She reached around Santana's body to rest her hand on the porch.

"Rachel." Santana moaned as she tossed her head back, there was no doubt that someone inside probably heard them. Both women froze when they heard a throat clear behind them. "I told you we were going to get caught." Santana started to laugh as Rachel buried her head in Santana's neck out of embarrassment.

Santana turned to look over her shoulder. She laughed when she saw not one, but three adults standing there all with giant smiles on their faces. "Sue warned us, but we were wondering if you two would like to go to lunch with us. Apparently there's some big new projects going on and we want to talk about helping out, if you will have us of course." Shelby clasped her hands together under her chin as she leaned back against Cassie whom was resting her head on Shelby's shoulder.

"Lunch sounds great, do you guys want to eat here in town or go to St. Lawrence?" Santana took the initiative since Rachel was still hiding her head. She wrapped her arms around Rachel who huffed her annoyance into Santana's neck. She would much rather stay here and continue loving on Santana.

"Uh..guys? What do you think?" Shelby asked looking around at everyone.

"The diner is running some new stuff today, we can go check that out if you want." Leroy suggested.

"Sounds riveting, but I need to get back to the station. For some of us the work never stops." Sue rolled her eyes as she stepped out onto the porch to head towards her cruiser. "I will call with any updates and Santana think about what I said. I know a few good people." Santana nodded, indicating that she was listening. Maybe talking to someone wouldn't be so bad, it was possible she could get rid of this feeling before it became something unbearable.

"Okay, so you two get ready and we will meet you down there?" Shelby waited for Santana to acknowledge her before she and Cassie left with Leroy.

"Let's go get ready babe...they're gone now." Santana said as she goosed Rachel in the ribs to get her to sit up.

"If we hurry, we can finish what we started." Rachel grinned before she stood up quickly and ran into the cabin, Santana laughing and running behind her.


	46. Find The Missing Piece

"Okay, I have Marley, Ryder, Sue, Shelby, Cassie, Leroy, Bayani, Puck, Quinn, Artie, Brittany, Blaine, Kurt, Mr. Shue, Ms. Pillsbury, Finn, Tina, Sam, Mike and us down to decorate/donate rooms. Did I miss anyone?" Santana asked looking up from the legal pad that she held in front of her face. It had been a long and busy week trying to catch up with everyone to ask about the children's home, now Santana had to set up the meeting with Mrs. Stidham and the lawyers, she wanted to double check that she wasn't forgetting anyone.

"Mmm, I'm pretty sure that's everyone. Now the question is, will they have enough rooms." Rachel was bent over resting her head in her propped up hand on the counter.

"They are buying and remodeling a college campus, I am sure they will have plenty of rooms to go around. If and that's a big if, they run out of nurseries or dorms for us to decorate we can always help out with the classrooms they are setting up or just donate the money to other stuff they need. No matter what, we will have plenty to do. I just can't wait to get started." Santana grinned as she laid the legal pad down on the kitchen island.

Rachel smiled at Santana's excitement. She had seen Santana excited and bouncing off the walls happy, but it was always reserved for the most special occasions. It felt nice to be able to focus on this instead of everything that was currently going on with Jasper and the Porter's. Jasper was on the road to making a full recovery, as soon as he was discharged from the hospital he would be going straight to jail. After Sue had left last Sunday, Detective Beiste was able to somehow get the warrants they would need to search Jasper's apartment. Apparently they had found enough evidence to nail not only Jasper but Charles and Ronald both. They were now waiting on court dates to determine if a trial was going to be had. Hopefully it would be a cut and dry case. Rachel had determined that she would be happy if they could finally turn the page on that chapter of their lives.

In the past week, Santana had also consulted a therapist who was helping her work through her feelings. After only one session, Santana had realized she had a lot more to talk about than almost killing Jasper. It was tiring but it felt so good at the same time. Rachel had agreed that she would start seeing her therapist again considering this latest incident had awoken old feelings of panic about losing Santana. Both women knew they couldn't live their lives in constant states of anxiety, this would help them both in the present and the long run.

"Okay." Rachel looked over at the clock on the stove. "I have to go meet Quinn for some interviews now that all the singles are done. I don't think I will be gone all day, but if I think I will be later than usual I will call." Rachel grabbed her bag off the bar stool she was standing next to before she walked over to give Santana a good bye kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too. Have fun at your interviews." Santana replied before bringing her focus back to the list of people she needed to call today. She sighed, looking at her phone with disdain. This was not going to the fun part at all.

* * *

Santana sighed and rubbed her eyes as she hung up the phone. She was finally done calling everyone on her list including the lawyers and Mrs. Stidham. Now they had a meeting date to take care of all the paper work to volunteer and sort out who was going to do what. Glancing at the clock Santana realized she had been busy on the phone for nearly five hours. Jeez, where did the time go? Standing up, Santana stretched, grimacing when her bones made some very uncharacteristic noises. She needed a break before she started working on the paintings for the donation.

"Dax, Dahlia, let's go for a walk!" Santana clapped her hands to get the dogs attention. Both came bounding over to her, tongues hanging out wagging their tails happily. These two little monsters would be the perfect break, Santana smiled as she opened the front door, letting the dogs run out in front of her

* * *

Rachel smiled as she held the door open for Quinn as they exited one of the many radio studies that they had visited today. "Are we almost done?" Rachel asked with a minimal hint of a whine as her smile faded slightly.

"Yep." Quinn responded. "I know we have done a lot today, but the more we do now the less we have to do later while you record the album."

"We will have a bunch more to do after the album comes out though and if it does well then we will have to set up a tour and everything." Rachel said over her shoulder as she made her ways towards her car.

"That's true but that's not until at least the end of next year. This album isn't going to happen over night, some artists take years to put out albums." Quinn rubbed her stomach, Davis was very active today and liked to kick every time he heard Rachel's voice. It seems as if Davis had already picked his favorite aunt.

"I'm not some artists though and Puck isn't planning on taking years to do this album. We're aiming for a summer release date. Plus, I refuse to be on tour during Christmas. That's one holiday I won't compromise on. Santana and I love Christmas and with the addition of our wedding anniversary now going to be around the same time, December will be a no work month." Rachel put the keys into the ignition of her car and started it, turning the air conditioner on high so that the car could cool off.

"How is Santana? I haven't spoken to her since she called asking about the children's home." Quinn looked around Rachel's car. She loved this car with it's all black interior. If you looked close enough in direct sunlight it almost looked like a dark purple.

Rachel smiled at Quinn's question. It didn't matter how often Santana and Quinn bantered back and forth, when it came down to it, they were the best of friends and they truly cared about each other. "She's doing good. She's making calls today about the meeting, so I am sure she called Puck since she knew we were out together today. Therapy went well, but I can tell it's going to bring up a lot for her. Her parents never being around, losing her Abuelo, everything that happened with the Porter's. I know Santana doesn't like to talk about it, but she was a part of that just as much as I was."

"I've known Santana for years and to her that's your story to tell, not hers. She was there for everything that happened after, but because she wasn't there when it happened, she doesn't see herself as a part of it." Quinn mused.

"Sometimes...I don't think she sees how important she is or how much she actually does. I mean she is taking on this children's home project all by herself." Rachel slowly backed out of her parking space and headed towards her and Quinn's favorite lunch spot. "She's the one who is organizing everyone and getting the meeting together, she's doing all those paintings to donate and she's doing paintings for the production company. Plus, she wants to become a regular volunteer. If I know Santana like I think I do, two things are going to happen...she's going to start an organization that directly helps all children's homes and; now this is a big one that she and I should discuss..." Rachel trailed off as Quinn sat in anticipation.

"What is it? Because if it's what I think it is, then you should really consider how you feel about it." Quinn had a feeling she knew what Rachel was going to say, but she didn't want to be wrong in assuming.

"She's going to go in there and fall in love with those children and we will become foster parents." Rachel flexed her fingers on the steering wheel as she waited for Quinn to respond.

"I had a feeling that's what you were going to say. We both know that Santana likes to keep a guard up, but she's more empathetic than she realizes. While she has never been in the system she knows what it feels like to be alone and not have anyone to turn to or depend on. I guarantee that at least one of those babies is going to steal her heart, but Rachel are you ready for something like that? Is Santana ready for something like that?" This was a big decision that both women really needed to think about, heck they haven't talked about the very real reality of all of this. It was just a fleeting thought at the moment that could very well never happen, but in the off chance it did, they needed to be prepared. Quinn sat back and thought for a moment. "Wait is this something you really think will happen with Santana or is it something you want to happen?"

"I think it will happen with Santana and I maybe...want it to happen too. We talked about babies before we even got engaged, but it hasn't been mentioned anymore. I feel like this is a sign for us. I may not be the most religious person anymore, but I know that there is some higher power up there that is about to lead us to a child that needs us the most. Why else would there be such a strong pull to be involved with this opportunity?"

"You really think that this is a sign?" Quinn asked as she rested her elbow on the edge of the passenger car door.

"I really do." Rachel felt relieved that Quinn wasn't making a big deal out of this.

"Then I will support you and Santana one hundred percent, no matter what happens. If you two end up becoming foster parents, I will do everything in my power to help manage your time better so you won't have to be away as long. Just don't leave Santana in the dark about what you are thinking, you know she needs time to process even if she is already thinking of doing this herself." Quinn was truly happy for her best friends. After everything that had been going on in their lives they really needed this new chapter.

"Thank you and I plan on talking to Santana about this tonight." Rachel smiled as they pulled into the restaurant that she and Quinn always ate at when they were in St. Lawrence. Hopefully Santana was really on the same page as Rachel with all of this, I mean she was the one who mentioned babies before. The thought was slightly overwhelming but fascinating and joyful.

* * *

Santana laughed as she watched Dahlia drag a stick much too large for her. The silly blonde puppy was still learning the ins and outs of fetch, but slowly she was getting the hang of it. The only issue was that she wanted to play with sticks that were more Dax's size, not hers. Dax had lost interest in his stick and instead waited patiently for his master to throw his frisbee, it was his favorite toy after all.

They had been walking on one of the trails when they came across a small clearing and Santana decided to sit down and let the dogs play for a while. It was peaceful out here, no one could bother her and for a moment Santana could just simply enjoy being surrounded by nature. She took a deep breath clearing her head as she laid back in the soft grass. Dahlia had stopped dragging her stick and Dax was content to lay next to her chewing on his frisbee.

Crossing her arms behind her head, Santana let the warm sun beat down on her skin. There was a cool breeze blowing despite it being almost ninety degrees out. Everything in the moment felt still and quiet. Santana's mind swirled with thoughts about her life, she was happy and healthy with an amazing career and an amazing fiance'. Her dogs were perfect but she couldn't shake the feeling that something significant was missing. Santana just couldn't pin point exactly what it was..maybe it would come to her soon.


	47. Great Idea

Rachel waved to Quinn as she walked up on the porch of her shared home with Puck and Beth. It had been a long and exhausting day. They had made their rounds around St. Lawrence visiting radio stations before heading back to the studio for some late interviews. Rachel looked at the clock it was nearly ten, Santana said she would wait up, but Rachel didn't blame her if she fell asleep. Pulling out of Quinn's driveway, Rachel wondered if she should talk to Santana tonight about what she was thinking. Would it be better to get it all out in the open now or wait and see what happened? Was this too soon, I mean they weren't even married yet, but like Rachel had told Quinn, they had talked about babies before they even got engaged. Rachel made a split decision to wait and see if Santana brought the topic of children up again before she said anything as she pulled up in front of the gate and waited for Duncan to let her in.

* * *

Santana was busy shuffling around the kitchen making a light dinner. Rachel had called not too long after she and the dogs had returned from their walk so Santana grabbed a snack and her favorite cook book to find something to cook later. After she had seemingly went through the whole book, Santana decided she would just make up some bagel pizza's instead of a full dinner. Rachel walked through the door just as the timer on the oven went off. Santana smirked to herself, that was perfect timing.

"Hi baby." Rachel greeted as she hung up her coat and sat her bag down inside the old wooden trunk that they kept by the door, before taking off her shoes. Her feet breathed their own little sigh of relief at finally being released from the confines of the heels that Rachel just had to wear for some reason.

"Hi love." Santana returned the greeting. "I hope you're hungry because I made bagel pizza's."

"Awh, San. You didn't have to cook anything. I could have just heated something up." This was one of the things that Rachel was talking to Quinn about earlier. Santana was always doing sweet and caring things like this but she had trouble accepting the same treatment in return.

Santana shrugged her shoulders as she sat down two plates onto the island next to the baking sheet. "It's no big deal, I told you I would wait up and I knew you would be hungry. It's just bagels, anyone can do that."

"You're not anyone though, you're the love of my life." Rachel wrapped her arms around Santana's waist in a hug as she stood on the pads of her feet waiting for a kiss. Once Santana had obliged Rachel's needs for kisses, Rachel looked down at the baking sheet. "Tell me what's what here."

"Well." Santana kept one arm wrapped around Rachel's waist as she pointed out the different pizza's that she had whipped up. "We've got spinach and mushroom, cream cheese and tomato, and plain pesto and cheese."

"Oohh, can I have one of each?" Rachel asked sweetly, batting her eye lashes.

"You can have whatever you want." Santana said as she reached out and grabbed a cream cheese and tomato bagel for Rachel and a spinach and mushroom one for herself.

* * *

Santana lay in bed staring at the ceiling, she couldn't sleep with all the thoughts and feelings swirling around in her head. Sighing she turned over deciding to stare out of the window instead of the ceiling. She didn't even flinch at the small tug she felt on her arm from the stitches that had yet to be removed. The sheet covering her naked body moved as Rachel turned over searching for the warmth that Santana always offered.

"You're thinking too loud." Rachel mumbled as she draped an arm across Santana's waist and rested her chin on Santana's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I just can't sleep." Santana whispered. She never understood why whispering was the go to tone of voice whenever you were speaking at night.

"What's on your mind?" Rachel sighed when she received no answer or thought she wasn't going to receive an answer.

"I'm worried." Suddenly Santana was sitting up in bed, pulling the sheet along with her to keep herself covered. This was a serious conversation and she didn't need Rachel to get distracted. "What if we do all of this work for The St. Lawrence Children's Home and then they close down within a few years? What if Charles or Jasper tries to come after us again? And then I feel like something just isn't right anymore..I don't..I don't know what to do." Santana covered her face with her hands, these worries were getting the best of her.

"Okay..honey slow down. We won't let the children's home close okay?" Rachel chuckled, she didn't mean to laugh but it was kind of funny how she had just told Quinn that Santana would want to do something more than just what she was doing currently. "If they need more help in the future we will help them. Charles and Jasper have no more people left to do dirty work for them and if they try then we have the people to protect us. But I need you to talk to me about what you feel isn't right anymore." That one had been a statement that Rachel had not been prepared for. What wasn't right? Was their relationship not right anymore?

"I feel like something is missing from my life. Do you ever feel like that?" Santana looked Rachel straight in the eyes. She could see the surge of panic that she had just created. "Not us baby. I swear it's not us. We have a beautiful relationship and amazing careers, but I just feel like something is missing." Santana reached out to grab Rachel's hands. "I know I can protect you and myself, but if Charles and Jasper don't go away for good they could come back again. I don't want that hanging over our heads for the rest of our lives."

"They found so much evidence in Jasper's apartment that tied this whole thing up like the finishing touches on a perfect Christmas package. None of those men are ever getting out of jail. They have no one left to do their bidding either. Charles has screwed over every lawyer he had at his firm by scamming money from them. Jasper not only was tormenting us but was running a ponzi scheme with Ronald. They will be lucky if they ever see daylight outside of a barbwire fence in the next sixty years." Rachel needed to make sure that Santana's worries were calmed before she brought up the next subject. "Santana I want to talk to you about something." Rachel took on her most serious tone. Maybe what she had to say would help Santana figure out what that missing piece might be.

"Wait, do you think we aren't okay? I swear we're fine, amazing even! Dare I say perfect? Because I think we are pretty perfect you know." Santana gave her signature grin, no relationship was perfect, but this one was perfect for them. Everything that Rachel had just said about Charles and Jasper seemed to go in one ear and out of the other.

"No, no no. I think we are pretty perfect also. I was talking to Quinn today and well I will just tell you what I told her. I told her that if I knew you like I thought I did, then you would want to do something to help out more with the children's homes and others in the state. There was something else I mentioned but I worry this is too much too soon, we aren't even married yet and our career's are in amazing, albeit very busy places at the moment.." Rachel trailed off as she started to ramble.

"Rachel you're losing me here. What's too much too soon?" Santana's eyes danced back and forth as she was trying to keep up with what all Rachel was saying.

"I think...no I know I want to become a foster parent. I feel like this project was a sign for us. We talked about babies before we even got engaged and then everything that has happened...it made me realize we were missing out on something really important that we both want." Rachel finished speaking just as her lip began to quiver.

"Hey..no don't cry." Santana reached up to gently wipe away Rachel's tears with the pad of her thumb. "I think we would make great foster parents."

"Really?" Rachel couldn't contain the surprise in her voice.

"Yes really. I know that I was worried before about being a mother, but doesn't every parent have that fear? You know fear that they are going to screw up their kid? I want to do this right though. I don't want us to work our asses off to get our fostering license and then bring in a kid to fill up some kind of void that I may have. I want to make sure that I am in the best place possible so that everyone is happy and healthy. I'm not saying no because I already told you we would be great foster parents, but I am asking if we can wait. Plus, it would look better on an application if we were married and I really like our possible wedding date. And the kids may not even like us. OH NO! Really what if no kids want to be fostered by us? What would we do?"

"Santana you're spinning away. Take a breath, this isn't going to happen over night. I agree we should wait, but do you think that might be the missing piece you are thinking of?" Rachel asked as she settled back down in the bed, pulling Santana with her. "Don't worry about the kids, they are all going to love you. You have such a huge heart and I know that it's going to get bigger as you meet and get to know each and every one of those kids. I bet none of them will want anything to do with the rest of us, they will be all about you." Rachel laughed. She could only imagine all the little pictures that would be drawn for them and the hugs from little arms wrapped around their legs, it was a magical feeling.

"It's possible, but I want to talk to my therapist about it first. Which sounds so odd coming from my mouth. I want to go visit the children's home as soon as possible. I know we have to do the paper work first, but I can't wait." Santana rested her head on Rachel's chest.

"It really does. You're not a very talkative person, but thank you for talking about this to me. When is the meeting, did you get everyone called today?" Rachel began to run her hands through Santana's hair.

"It's Friday. That was the best date that everyone could meet on. I wish it was sooner, now I have to wait four whole days." Santana pouted a little. "I want to do an auction every year for the children's home. If I can't bring all of them to my home then I am going to make sure that they have the best home possible brought to them." Santana could feel her eyes getting heavier with each passing stroke of Rachel's hand. It was odd how quickly they could fall asleep after having such a serious conversation, maybe it was because a weight had been lifted off of both women's shoulders or maybe it was the beautiful dream of what the future may hold.

"I think that's a great idea." Rachel smiled to herself, she had been totally right.


	48. Working Out The Details

"I'm walking on sunshine..ohhh." Santana sang as she drove Rachel and herself through the streets of St. Lawrence. Rachel glanced over from the passenger seat smiling. It was finally Friday. Santana felt like she had been waiting weeks upon weeks for this meeting. She was more happy than ever after a lovely session with her therapist the day before. Santana knew as soon as she woke up this morning that today was going to be a good day. Everything seemed to be a little bit brighter and nothing was going to wipe the grin off of Santana's face.

"After today we will be one step closer to being able to visit the children's home anytime we want." Rachel sing songed.

Santana stopped singing abruptly like she had just had a revelation. "You're right!" Her excited smiled faded slightly. "But, it's still going to be a couple of weeks, they have to do background checks and we have to set up doctors appointments for lab screenings and take a drug test."

"Are we the only two volunteering?" Rachel wondered out loud.

"I think almost everyone is going to sign up so they can volunteer when they can after we finish the rooms." Santana replied as she turned on her turn signal to pull into the lawyers office building.

* * *

Santana and Rachel were two of the first few people to make their way into the very large conference room. Santana was in awe, she had never seen an official room this huge before. The hard wood table looked as if it stretched for miles and it was surrounded by large leather chairs. Mrs. Stidham and Chloe were already seated at one end with their lawyers, Tina sat next to them while Puck and Quinn sat opposite across the table. Rachel and Santana decided to sit next to Puck and Quinn as they waited for everyone else to arrive.

As more people began to trickle in, Santana smiled and greeted them with a casual hello. This was perfect, everyone on the list had showed up. It meant more to Santana than they would ever know. The fact that all of these people willingly agreed to help was amazing to her. None of them were bad people but it was always inspiring to see so many people come together for a special cause.

"Santana would you like to say anything before we begin?" Mrs. Stidham asked with a quiet and kind smile.

"What? Me? Say something?" Santana sputtered out, she hadn't been prepared.

"Of course. We wouldn't all be here if it wasn't for you." When Agetha had gotten the call about the list of people that Santana had gathered, all she could do was cry. She never imagined that someone would go this above and beyond for the children's home. Santana and everyone in the room were truly blessings in disguise.

"Okay..um..where do I start? I guess first I want to thank you all for helping with this." Santana made sure to look at everyone and jeez there were a lot of people here. "When I was first presented this project, I thought I was just going to be doing some art pieces to be showed in a production or two. I'm normally not the kind of person who dives into things, but I jumped head first into this. I felt such a strong pull to this project and just so you know Mrs. Stidham we are going to do an art showing every year from here on out."

"Please call me Agetha." Mrs. Stidham waved a hand at Santana's use of formalities.

"Agetha." Santana bowed slightly from her standing position in front of her seat at the table. "I knew I wanted to do everything in my power to help not only The St. Lawrence Children's Home, but others as well. I've never been in the system and I can only imagine how not fun it is. I know that decorating rooms isn't going to make all their problems go away, but with our help that saved money can go to getting the proper care and every day items for all the children. It all eventually comes full circle and we get to start that circle today." Santana sat back down as everyone applauded. Rachel was of course crying happy tears, it moved her to see Santana speak so passionately.

"Are we ready to get started?" Agetha asked as she stood up, taking a stack of papers from Chloe's hands. "I figure we should get the legality part of this covered and then we can discuss any ideas you all might have? These are over views of the royalties and residuals you can receive for being a part of the film."

"Mrs. Stidham. No disrespect intended ma'm but I don't think any of us intend to collect any form of compensation for this. I personally think gratitude and honest appreciation is enough." Blaine spoke from his seat at the end of the table next to Kurt.

"Blaine's right, we knew there was an option to collect monetary compensation but we want that money put back into the home for the kids." Puck looked to his left at the lawyers. "Do you guys already have a contract made up that says we don't want royalties or anything, just the use of our name for production credits and singular advertisement purposes?"

One of the lawyers whom Santana still insisted on calling Bob nodded his head. "We had one drawn up per request from Mrs. Lopez after our first meeting, we just didn't wan to assume."

Santana gave her signature smirk. "I told you I knew my people. We're a large group of friends, well no. I take that back, we're more like a large family, it happens when you live in a small town like McKinley." Agetha began to collect all the previous pieces of paper that she handed out as Chloe walked along behind her handing out the new contracts.

"I have a question as to what production credits and singular advertisement purposes are?" Mr. Shue raised his hand a little shyly. Almost everyone in the room knew at least a little bit about this type of business except for him and Ms. Pillbury.

"It just means that they will put your name or your company name in the credits and that your name can be used for advertisement for this project only. Like if they done another documentary in a few years they couldn't use our names in the advertisements again unless we sign new contracts." Finn answered to everyone's surprise. He chuckled, "Don't look at me like that. I know movies, I do own a theater you know." He grinned when everyone laughed.

"I know you all are very professional business people, but I am the lawyer here for all of us. If anyone has anymore questions about the contract please do ask because we don't want anyone tricked into anything here. Fine lines and all that jazz." Tina spoke as her eyes scanned the pages of the new contract. "It's nothing personal." Tina looked at the two lawyers that were present for Agetha and Chloe. "You two are lawyers yourselves, you know how this works."

"We understand. It's straight forward business." Bob agreed.

Rachel read through her contract as did everyone else waiting for Tina to give them okay to sign. As far as she could tell there wasn't really anything out of the ordinary in the contract. They had extended the no outside media clause to cover everyone, not just Santana. There was a portion that covered the topic of no royalties or residuals due during pre and post production. The last part of the contract covered the donation services for the unspecified number of rooms.

"Does this last part mean we get to pick how many rooms we can decorate?" Ryder asked.

"Yes, you can do one or you can do ten. It's up to you." Agetha said as she sat back down in her chair.

"How many buildings and rooms are there on the campus?" Sam asked as he flipped his pen back and forth between his fingers.

"Well it's a five building campus. We have the main office building, the lessons building that contains the classrooms, library, computer lab, and cafeteria." Agetha was going through the whole campus layout in her head. "We have a staff housing building, an athletic building that contains the pool, basketball court, and gym and last is the children's housing which is the dorm rooms. The dorm housing has one hundred sixty rooms total at the moment, that includes lounge areas and bathrooms." Agetha looked at all the stunned faces around the room. "That number will decrease after renovations. We're combining two dorms in the middle and at each end of the hallway to create three suites for floor monitors to stay in. The first floor will house newborns to twelve year old's. The second floor is the boys and the top floor is the girls all thirteen to eighteen. At the end of renovations we will have forty-four dorm rooms total for the teenagers on the second and third floor. The bottom floor is being completely converted into a nursery and six different age group rooms."

Santana quietly did the math in her head, subtracting all the rooms that were going to be renovated. "That's only ninety five actual dorm rooms in total. Is that enough?" Santana asked as she frowned.

"The building is huge, every room is a double and they are about two hundred fifty square feet each. They were really generous when they built this campus. We estimate we will be able to house about two hundred eighty kids. That's five times as many kids as we have now. Even after the other two homes combine with ours, we will still have enough space for about one hundred kids. That space won't last long though, sadly it fills up pretty quickly." Chloe finished in a sad tone.

"Welp." Cassie clasped her hands together with an excited grin. "I have confidence that we can decorate all the rooms. I mean there is twenty one of us, we got this covered Mrs. Stidham."

"I don't see anything that's underhanded or not legit in the contract. So, let's finalize this shall we if you all are good and then we can discuss room details." Tina nodded her head at everyone. They all already had their pens out, eager to sign and get the process underway.

"What kind of room details are we talking about here?" Leroy asked as he signed his contract and laid down his pen.

"Well. You don't have to buy beds, desks or wardrobe cubicles all the big furniture is already there. When they closed the school they literally walked out and left everything after the students moved out. Anything missing on the second and third floor can be replaced with a piece from the first floor that's taken out of the rooms being turned into the nursery. We want to keep all that the same so that they won't fight over who has cooler furniture. We have several cribs and toddler beds already, we won't need any new ones with the other two homes bringing theirs with them. Basically all big furniture is taken care of."

"So we get to do painting, bedding, wall art, all the stuff like that. I'm okay with that." Shelby nodded her head as she spoke.

"With all the money we save not having to buy big furniture, we can help provide other stuff. Oh we could do shower baskets for them! Get extra towels and linens. Help get them school supplies, clothes and shoes." Rachel started rattle off everything they could do.

"Game systems and TVs for the lounge rooms." Sam and Mike spoke at the same time. They laughed before cheesily high fiving. Kurt shook his head and rolled his eyes. Ugh. Boys.

"No no no, think practical stuff guys. Things that they need." Quinn shouted as the room slowly delved into a mess of loud murmurs and collective thinking out loud.

Santana sat back with wide eyes. These people were crazy, it wouldn't surprise her one bit if someone started throwing punches over which game system was better. Of course she was already thinking about what extra stuff she and Rachel could put their money to, she just wasn't shouting about it like everyone else.

"The babies will need diapers and the toddlers will need pull ups and potties." Marley was now swooning about all the stuff that she and Rachel could get for the little ones. Santana was just about to tell everyone to shut up when she heard a sniffle. Someone was crying. Looking around the table Santana noticed that Agetha had her head buried in her hands.

"Guys!" Santana waited for everyone to quiet down before she addressed Mrs. Stidham. "Are you okay Agetha?" Santana asked with concern as she walked around the table to squat down on the balls of her feet next to the woman's chair.

"Oh honey. I'm fine. It's just...we've never worked with a group of people who were this enthusiastic about helping. Your generosity is too kind." Agetha sniffed again as she wiped her eyes with some tissue that Chloe had ran out to get. "I'm not going to tell you all how to spend your money, but we have certain things provided for us. All textbooks the children may need if they have to miss regular school are government funded through the school systems. We can never have too many reading books though. We have a very decent food budget and some of the best cooks who provide healthy but very delicious and filling meals."

"We understand that you need help in more areas than others, but we just want to make sure that all areas are covered. No stone left un-turned so to speak." Santana smiled as Agetha's tears subsided. This woman was about to get the biggest faith in humanity restored moment of her life. She truly had no idea just how much power this group of people from McKinley had.


	49. Settle Down

Santana watched quietly as everyone talked among themselves about what they would need to do their rooms. They had been throwing ideas around for a while now and so far they had ideas for about fifty rooms. It was funny, Kurt was naming paint colors that she was sure were fake but he swore otherwise. Kurt had also decided that he would talk to some of his friends in the fashion industry and see if they could help come up with some clothing donations. Shelby and Cassie were going to use their position with the school and find out what they could do to help with books and such. Sue was already making plans to extend the toy drive that the station done every year so that the babies would have plenty of stuff to play with in their lounge room. Leroy and Bayani were using Leroy's sources to get new books for all the children, there was just so much more going on than what had originally been anticipated. It warmed Santana's heart to the fullest to see how above and beyond everyone was going. Agetha's crying had subsided a while ago and she was now willing to suggest things that she knew for a fact that the children would need. She may have been reluctant at first, but she understood that all these people were willing to help and they needed direction.

Now that the legal stuff had been taken care of, Santana was more than eager to get started on the paper work so that she could start volunteering. Sadly her time would be limited with all the work she had to do, but any free moments could be divided up between Rachel and visiting the children's home. "How long will it take for the volunteer paperwork to process?" Santana asked with curiosity. She had a vague idea but she was hoping that maybe she was a little bit wrong.

"Well, the back ground checks take anywhere from three days to a week, the lab screenings and drug tests should take about the same time." Chloe replied. "You have to do both here in St. Lawrence at one of our approved centers or someone from our team can come to you and sign off on the papers." Chloe halted her speaking when she noticed everyone giving her slightly odd looks.

"You don't trust us to be honest on our results?" Mike asked in a slightly offended tone.

"No no no. I trust you guys." Chloe assured. "Our insurance allocates a certain amount of money for new volunteers each year. In the volunteer packet is a form for a temporary insurance card. If you go to one of our approved centers that card will pay for your lab screenings and drug tests right then. If you have someone from our team meet you, they will take the card and sign off that you done the tests and they will send it in. Going to one of our centers just skips a step." Chloe was trying her best to clarify everything, she didn't want to get on the bad side of any of these people.

"We've done stuff like this before Rachel." Quinn said as she looked over the insurance paper that was in the packet she had just been handed by Agetha. "The last movie Rachel done, she was given a temporary insurance card so if she got sick or hurt the production company would cover it."

Rachel flipped open her packet as soon as Agetha handed her one and looked over the papers. There was one for basic information, one for releasing background information, an emergency contact form and the insurance paper. "Yeah, I had to fill one of these out before. We get the lab screening and drug test forms when we go in, right?"

"Yes, the paper work will be at the chosen center or brought to you. Does everyone want to volunteer on a regular basis or just temporary? Because there's two different forms depending on which you choose." Agetha informed everyone sitting at the table.

"I think all of us want to volunteer on a regular basis when we can." Santana looked around the table as everyone nodded in the affirmative. "Also where are your centers?" Santana was all for skipping a step so that she could her stuff done and back as quickly as possible.

"Thank you. If we get all of this done today, you should get your cards by Monday or Tuesday and we can put you on a volunteer schedule as early as the following Monday when your tests and background checks come back. We will of course call to let you know and set up the best times for you. I can't even begin to tell you all how grateful I am." Agetha spoke as she began to get teary eyed again. She held the left over folders to her chest as she covered her mouth and shook her head. This just all seemed to good to be true.

"You can go to the health department over on Clover St. and ask to speak to Madison who handles our stuff there or to the hospital. Our team member Nicholas handles all of the insurance there for us. You just go to admissions and check in for blood work, they'll do the tests and you bring your paper work back out to Nicholas. He will handle the rest." Chloe answered when she saw that Agetha was getting worked up again.

Santana nodded at Chloe. "That sounds like a plan." She then turned her attention back to Agetha. "Please don't thank us. Let us thank you for letting us help." Santana spoke up for everyone when they remained silent; lost in their own thoughts with happy smiles on their faces.

* * *

"Did you do it? You did it right?" Santana bounced around Rachel like an excited puppy when she came home from the studio the following Monday after the Friday weekend. Rachel and Santana had originally planned to go get their tests done that morning after they received their cards in the mail, but Rachel had to rush off to a writing session.

"Yes, if you would stop bouncing a minute you would see the bandage where I swear they were trying to drain my blood not just test it." Rachel sighed and rubbed her arm. Admittedly she had been preparing herself for the blood work, but she never anticipated that they would get their cards today. Rachel had figured she had at least a day or two to mentally prepare herself.

"I'm sorry! But you know this means that in possibly a week we could be going to visit the kids. I even made sure I would have some free time. I started working as soon as I got home and finished four of the paintings for the auction already. I mean they are _done_ for now, but of course that may change. I just felt so inspired after I left the health department this morning. It was like the paint itself was pouring from my fingers onto the canvas. I couldn't stop myself." Santana laughed a little hysterically and clapped her hands together.

"I know. I'm so happy that you're so excited about this, but you need to calm down. Honestly you're really starting to worry me. I don't want you to burn out with all of this." Rachel reached out and placed her hand on Santana's arm. She watched quietly as Santana's happy bubble deflated a bit. Santana sat down on the couch without saying anything. Rachel followed suit after she had finally taken the time to lay her jacket and bag down.

"You know my therapist mentioned the same thing. He's worried I am going to burn out too." Santana reached over and grabbed one of Rachel's hands, playing with her engagement ring. "We have so much going on, from the wedding that we have yet to officially set the date for even though we keep saying December twentieth. I still have at least ten paintings left to do in a month and Peter has been emailing me design ideas for the sign. I very rarely dive headfirst into projects like this and even I question if I am taking on too much. In addition to all of that, you have to start recording your album soon, so that means late night writing and recording sessions. Are we going to be too busy to really handle all of this?"

Rachel watched closely as Santana finally let her walls down completely and become vulnerable. It was a rare sighting, but everything that Santana was saying they would figure it out. They always did. "You still have over a month to get the paintings done for the auction, the others for the production company have a deadline for what the fourteenth of October? If you work when the inspiration hits, you will have them done in no time. Like you done four today, if you do four every time you are struck with inspiration you will be done within a week. The sign for the children' s home isn't supposed to be done until opening night which isn't until November." Rachel rested her head on Santana's shoulder as she kept talking. "If we go on ahead and set the date for the wedding and figure out what colors we want, we can put Shelby, Cassie, Dad and Bayani to work on that. We can also call your mother to help if you want...that's only a suggestion though."

"I think...I don't want her help. I mean we can send her and my dad an invite but...she's too over bearing and she would try and control everything, push Shelby and Cassie or Leroy and Bayani out of the way. Don't let them fool you either, I saw the wedding magazine's in Leroy's car. They're already planning stuff. But do you want Shelby and Cassie's help? I mean she just came back into your life and you two are only on okay terms right now." Santana knew that she and Cassie were part of the reason that Shelby and Rachel had started reconnecting quickly, but they didn't want to really over push it.

"Somebody has to keep the leashes tightened on Dad and Bayani. Like you said we are going to be busy and we need all the help we can get. Now about my work." Rachel sat up and pulled her legs up on the couch so that she could face Santana, well the side of Santana's head at the moment. "Puck is part of this project too so he knows that we have to make time. We are aiming for a Summer release date for the album, that's a year away. Yes, we are going to start recording here in a week or so, but that's just one song. Joe and Brock are the best writers I have ever met and Puck announced today since everything happened with Jasper, instead of choosing just one intern Puck is keeping them both on as writers for me. So, there won't be many if any at all late night writing sessions anymore. Quinn's due date is literally weeks away, Davis is going to be here before we know it. The family bug has finally completely sunk it's teeth into Puck's ass. He is starting a new schedule, everyone goes home by six and if you stay late, you can't stay past eight. Weekends are only for must finish before Monday projects now."

"Wow...something really has bitten Puck in the ass. He used to work from sun up to midnight on a good night." Santana was perplexed with this new change in Puck, however he must have really realized the tole his work was taking on his family. Quinn was going to need him with two kids and he was damn well going to be there. "He's made his name and he has the complete family he always wanted. He's finally turning into the man that I always knew he could be." Santana smiled as she settled into the couch and reached over to pull Rachel into her lap.

"We have nothing to worry about. We can handle the wedding planning and the volunteer work all the while keeping up with work. We got this babe." Rachel nuzzled her nose into Santana's neck. They had this indeed.


	50. St Lawrence Children's Home

Santana looked up at the large brownstone building with the illuminated St. Lawrence Children's Home sign in the front yard. The place was definitely...unique. Each window ledge was painted a different color and the sidewalk was lined with fading chalk drawings, probably done a few days ago. She squeezed Rachel's hand as she soaked in the atmosphere. It had taken a bit longer than anticipated to finally get here. Two weeks longer, to be exact. There was no one to blame really, it just so happened that things didn't move as quickly when twenty one people all sent in volunteer forms at once.

After a few added sessions with her therapist besides her regular scheduled ones, Santana felt calmer about doing this. Her work had spaced itself out which led Santana to having all but seven paintings completed, giving her plenty of time to have her name added to the volunteer schedule here at the home. After taking the time to really think about what Rachel had been saying about burning out, Santana understood the importance of learning to pace herself, she didn't have to be an energizer bunny all the time. Today was going to be a relaxing day, get to know some of the kids and just learn in general how a day typically went for the children at the home.

"Are we ready to go in? Chloe is supposed to be waiting for us." Rachel asked as she swung her hand back and forth.

"Why am I nervous? I shouldn't be nervous. What if they don't like me?" Santana was getting herself worked up, Rachel could feel her palm starting to sweat.

"They're going to love you. Come on." Rachel gave Santana her most confident smile and pulled her along the path that led to a set of large white double doors. She rang the buzzer once and waited.

"Names?" Santana looked around startled. What in the world?

Rachel giggled before pressing a red button on the intercom that Santana had obviously missed. "Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez. We're new volunteers."

"One moment." The intercom went quiet once again.

"They're probably making sure we aren't here to try and steal a kid or something." Santana mumbled under her breath.

When the door clicked signally the women to enter, they were greeted with a small foyer that opened up into a large living room looking area. There were two white french doors that set immediately to the right of the foyer and along the wall on the left was a wall with a window cut out.

"Hi guys!" Chloe rushed to them immediately from where she was standing at the corner of the foyer next to an oak wood desk. "I'm so sorry that we had to push your time today. I know you were supposed to come at nine but let's just say we had a few issues this morning. But I am so glad you could make it for lunch and spend the rest of the evening with us." Santana could tell that Chloe was definitely on edge and she looked wore out.

"It's okay, we're just glad we finally got to come today." Rachel smiled when she finished speaking wrapping her arms around Santana's almost healed arm. They had went and had her stitches removed a week ago. Everything had healed nicely with minimal scarring which in a way put a damper on Santana's bad ass scar collection.

"We're glad you're here today too. So first things first, you have to sign in." Chloe pointed a book that was laying on a little ledge underneath the window opening. "Every time you come in and leave you have to sign in and out. It's so we know who is in the building." Chloe waited for the women to sign their names. "Now, if you will follow me around here." Chloe rounded the foyer wall and walked a little ways past the living room area to a door on the left.

"This is a beautiful space." Santana noted as she took in the couches and television mounted on the wall. She could see out the window to a nice sized back yard where a large picnic shelter sat. There was also another set of french doors that led to that area. Hmm, they must have a thing for french doors, Santana thought to herself.

"This area is where we do some supervised visits if it's not busy. Other than that, the older kids watch a bit of television on the weekends when curfew is extended. Basketball season gets pretty loud in here." Chloe paused and laughed thinking of all the times that quiet time had to be instated or the television was going to be turned off. "Now this door is our main office door. Martha, our security guard is going to take your pictures for your badges and her partner will check your bags and jackets into a locker. Mine and Agetha's offices are in here also. If we aren't around and you need someone, just knock on this main door here and someone will let you in." Chloe opened the door to reveal a large area that contained two large desks sitting opposite each other and a long counter on the far left of the room. Straight ahead was two doors that Santana assumed was the offices that Chloe had mentioned.

Santana and Rachel nodded their heads with understanding and went about getting their badges made and attaching them to their clothing. Santana decided to clip hers onto her belt since her t-shirt was tucked in anyway. Rachel opted for her shirt sleeve since she didn't have a collar or a belt. Either way, they were easily visible to everyone they came across which is what was most important. Next both women were made to sign basically gag orders that if they saw a parent or child they knew, they weren't allowed to speak about said child or parent to anyone. Santana and Rachel respected the amount of protection that went into respecting everyone's privacy around here.

"Okay. Now that you have your badges let's move on with the tour. Those doors," Chloe pointed to the white wooden french doors that sat at the end of the hallway just outside of the foyer, "those doors open up into the rooms for the thirteen to eighteen year old children. Girls on the top floor and the boys on the bottom floor. They are all at school or in classes at the moment, but later they can show you around if they want. That stairwell space right inside those doors is also the designated tornado area, just so you know in case of an emergency."

"I noticed that the girls will be on the floor above the boys in the new home too. Is there any specific reason for that?" Santana mused with curiosity.

"Girls tend to not be as loud as the boys around here. The boys used to be on the top floor until it got to the point our girls weren't getting any quiet time because of the boys running around to each others rooms, stomping, trying to play hockey in the hallway." Chloe explained.

"What is quiet time exactly?" Rachel asked as she continued to look around the living room area. They were still standing in front of the office door waiting to go through another door that was to the immediate left when you exited the office.

"Quiet time starts at seven after everyone has had dinner which starts at about five. Any homework that needs to be done is completed during that time. Anyone that prefers to shower in the evening does so during quiet time. It's just a name for the winding down portion of the evening. Bed time is eight-thirty for the babies and toddlers, nine-thirty for everyone else. However the older ones can have a book light on until ten. Then it's lights out. They always insist they can stay up later, but really their day starts at six and they go all day. Very rarely is there ever a book light on until ten. The only time that really happens is if someone is up finishing a bit of homework." Chloe loved that Santana and Rachel were asking questions. It showed they were truly invested in learning about the workings of the children's home.

"Where to next?" Rachel asked as she clasped her hands together under her chin and looked to Chloe for guidance.

"We are going to go through this door right here to see the rest of the building." Chloe turned and pulled open the door that her hand had been resting on. There was a door to the left and a door to the right. The door to the left looked like it led into the cafeteria and the door on the right was just a single solid door. Chloe turned around to face the women. "This door to my right leads into our cafeteria. We aren't going to go in there right now, since no one is in there. We will come back and I will introduce you once the children come down for lunch at noon. So we have..." Chloe looked at her watch, "about thirty minutes. Plenty of time to see the rest of the building. Now this door," Chloe walked over to the solid wooden door. "This door is our clothing closet." She opened it to reveal an actual very large closet. There were two racks on each side lined with clothes with boxes of shoes on the top shelves. In the floor there were storage boxes labeled for jackets, jeans, sweat pants, dress pants, socks, and underwear. They had a little bit of everything seemed like.

"You have a good amount of stuff in here at the moment, but are you short on anything in particular?" Rachel asked as she stepped into the closet and spun while looking around.

"There's a catalog of everything in here on the back of the door. Each item and size is listed with a number of how many we have. Like we have ten pairs of boys size seven boot cut jeans. We just got some huge church donations that had to go into storage until we can clear some more space out of here. It's always a toss up how long it will last though, we could have ten kids in and out of here tomorrow needing shirts, jeans, socks. I think we are good for now though." Rachel nodded her head as she headed back out of the clothing closet to stand next to Santana.

"The rest of this hallway is just a second cafeteria entrance, the kitchen door and a utility closet. All properly marked if you need something or someone. Now if we turn right down this hallway, we have a meeting room to the left. If someone needs to talk something out, they come in here. This is also were the chore charts are and there is a small alcove back there that leads to two therapist offices." The room was set up similar to the main front office with burgundy carpet and white boards except in place of the desks was a large conference room table. "To the right is staff and visitor restrooms, ladies is the first door and gentlemen is the second. The last door in this hallway is the nurse's office. She's probably in there now getting lunch medicine's together. I can properly introduce you later. This last back hallway is the nursery and our four to seven year old dorm room. We can go in and see the babies if you like. They should all be awake and in good moods since they're in the process of eating lunch." Chloe bounced on her toes waiting for an answer. Sure they had the other portion of the upstairs left to tour but that could wait. It was only the eight to twelve year old rooms and the designated classrooms. Babies were special and you didn't walk past the nursery without at least sticking your head in the door.

"What do you say Rach? Want to go meet some babies?" Santana's giddiness was coming back in full force and she didn't mind one bit. Who could ever get burnt out on playing with babies? This was something that Santana's therapist and Rachel was not talking about.

"Yeah, let's go meet the tiniest tiny humans." Rachel grabbed Santana's hand and linked their fingers together. She wasn't prepared for the heart warming coo that came out of Santana's mouth as Chloe opened the door to let the nursery room monitor know she was bringing in two new volunteers.

* * *

**Yay for Chapter 50! It's been a journey getting here and I am excited for the rest of the ride. Thank you all for sticking with me through this story. When I first started this story I knew it was going to be long, but I questioned if I would be able to stick with it. I'm glad I have, because honestly the best is yet to come. So thank you again for the views, reviews, follows and favorites. You guys are amazing.**

**Fun fact: The building they are in is actually a real building. However, it's not a children's home. It's a women's rehab center that my mother worked at for six years before she became a full time therapist. Obviously a few things are exaggerated, the actual building has all the same colored window sills and you don't have to have a badge, but you do have to sign a gag order. Santana's thought about the french doors was a real thought I had. Also the volunteering to decorate rooms was something that happened at the center. A bunch of church groups came in and decorated the "apartments" (the older kids rooms in the stories). Lastly, the nursery is a little different than the actual room (next chapter) because I had to make it baby friendly.**

**I've got some good stories from visiting the rehab center. If you want to hear one then let me know and I will leave it down here in a note. **


	51. Unleash The Tiny Humans

"Oh, thank goodness. There you are Chloe. I called up front and asked where you were, Martha said you were headed back this way doing a tour." Stephanie, the nursery room monitor, breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She had a baby cradled in her left arm while she swayed back and forth, patting it's little diapered bottom.

"Yes..here I am and I have two new volunteers with me. This is Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry." Chloe stepped farther into the room so that both women could come in behind her.

"Hi. I'm Stephanie Nantz." The woman stuck out her hand in greeting. Santana studied the woman for a moment, she honestly couldn't be older than twenty or twenty-one. Her piercing blue eyes that contrasted vastly with her dark hair seemed to glow in the soft yellow light of the room. Why was it so dark in here? The back area where all the cribs and toddler beds were located was dark, most of the babies must have been asleep already.

"It's very nice to meet you." Rachel responded as she leaned forward on her toes to try and see the baby. Santana took a moment to scan the room. There was a set of folding doors to the right that were open to reveal a washer and dryer. Next to the folding doors was another door that appeared to lead into a bathroom. It was a nice set up with a set of counters and cabinets, a desk and a large wooden table where three high chairs sat mixed in with the tables matching wooden chairs. The back portion where the small play area, cribs and beds were was carpeted and contained a roll of wooden cubicles along the main back wall.

"Oh, this is Matthew." Stephanie dipped her arms so that Rachel could get a better look at Matthew's face. He had both his little fists scrunched up under his chin as she suckled on a pacifier. "He's our newest little guy." Stephanie smiled as Matthew pushed his pacifier out of his mouth a little and immediately began sucking hard on it as if he was afraid he was about to lose it.

"Oh San...look at how cute he is." Rachel cooed at the baby as she reached out and ran her finger along the back of one of his fists.

"He is pretty adorable." Santana agreed as she looked at the baby over Rachel's shoulder.

"Would either of you like to hold him. Because I have situation which is the reason I was looking for you Chloe." Stephanie looked at the two women trying to determine who was going to take the baby. Rachel of course was the first to reach out, making silly faces and babbling even though Matthew remained sound asleep.

"What's going on?" Chloe asked mildly concerned. The atmosphere was calm and collective in the room. It couldn't be a huge emergency.

"It's Sierra and Samara, they were sent down from the classroom because they kept crying and throwing their puzzle pieces and blocks. Nicky thought that after this morning..." Stephanie cast her eyes towards Santana and Rachel not wanting to say too much. "Nicky thought they would be happier to get lunch early and then take a nap. But, when he dropped them off, they went and hid. They're both quiet until you try and get them to come out and then they scream and cry. I have three babies and two toddlers already asleep. They will wake the whole room up. So I need help to get them out and calm anybody who wakes up." Stephanie wrung her hands together, she didn't want to leave the babies where they were. They still needed to eat lunch and take a proper nap on top of their beds, not underneath them.

"How long have they been hid...where ever they are." Chloe stood with her hands on her hips surveying the room. In all honestly there were very few places to hide in the room.

"They're under their beds, respectively. They have only been under there the time you have been here. I had just hung up the phone when you opened the door." Stephanie rubbed the spot between her eyes. Both girls had their favorite stuffed toy and blanket under the beds with them. Heck they had probably already fallen asleep.

"Can I try to get them out? Which beds are theirs?" Santana asked with a pensive look on her face. Chloe looked a little surprised that Santana was asking to interact with the children so quickly, but she needed to see if Santana could deal with this.

"Sure, because I have tried everything. Sierra is the second bed on the right and Samara is the third. They're siblings, fourteen month old twins actually." Santana nodded her head as she listened to Stephanie explain. Before she could say anything else, Santana took several long strided steps and quietly walked onto the carpeted area. Instead of just peaking under the beds, Santana lay down in the floor and looked from underneath one bed to the other. She was instantly in awe of the beautiful African American girls. Sierra lay fast asleep underneath her bed, her tiny fist clenching tightly to her purple blanket covered in giraffe's, while her stuffed giraffe lay snuggled underneath her arm. Santana turned her head to the left. Samara on the other hand was not asleep, but she was laying in a similar position to her sister. They must have been watching each other, Santana thought in her head. Samara was sucking on a blue pacifier watching Santana warily with her big brown eyes.

"Hi cutie." Santana whispered. She knew not to reach out and try to grab the girl for fear she would start screeching. "Do you want to come out?" Santana made a come hither motion with her hand. She had no idea if a fourteen month old would understand what she was saying but it was worth a shot.

Samara remained quiet, content to just suckle on her pacifier and watch Santana. Who was this woman? Samara had never seen her before but she had a warmness to her that Samara had never felt before. It still made her anxious, was this woman going to pull her out of her hiding spot? She didn't want to leave this spot, Sierra was still in her spot, the woman had left her alone too.

Santana tucked her arms underneath her head and watched Samara watching her. "I like your horsey you have there. You know I live on a farm but I don't have any animals except two puppy dogs. Do you like puppy dogs?" Santana knew she probably sounded crazy at the moment but it was all worth it when Samara's eyes lit up at the mention of puppy dogs. Santana quietly chuckled. "I bet you would love to meet my puppy dogs. They might try to knock you down though since you're so little." Samara listened to Santana talk for a moment before she decided that maybe it was okay to scoot a little closer to her. The little beads in her hair clicked together as she moved her head slightly. Santana held her breath waiting to see the next move that Samara was going to make. She could hear Rachel talking quietly with Chloe and Stephanie. Hopefully none of them would come over here and disrupt what little progress was being made.

"Are you going to come out and see me now?" Santana continued in a whispered tone. Samara made no other move than stretching before she snuggled up against her stuffed horse again. "That's okay. You can stay under there. But I am going to hang out with you." Surprising herself, Santana turned over to lay on her back in a casual position. She tucked one arm behind her head and let her right hand drop casually by her side and slightly under the bed. Samara studied the hand for a moment before she released her hold on the stuffed horse and turned sideways, scooting on her belly to get just a little closer. Santana silently cheered in her head.

* * *

Rachel, Chloe and Stephanie all were trying to listen to what Santana was saying. However, she was speaking so quietly that they just heard soft murmurs. Rachel grinned when she saw Santana's legs turn over, she was getting comfortable. Santana was making plans to stay in that floor as long as she needed to.

"Neither of them are crying. She's good." Stephanie stated with pride in her voice.

"She used to have to talk her, well our niece out from under her bed sometimes. She liked to hide from her father when he would get her for the weekends. Santana doesn't realize how good she is with kids. She was so worried that they all were going to hate her for some strange reason." Rachel laughed as she finished talking and rolled her eyes. Obviously Santana really had nothing to worry about if the twins were any proof of that. Rachel shifted Matthew from one arm to the other. He wasn't heavy at all, but her arm was getting a little tired from holding it in the same position.

"I can take him if you want. He has been asleep long enough that he shouldn't wake up when I put him in his crib." Stephanie moved closer to Rachel raising her arms to take the baby.

"It's okay. I was just adjusting him. Besides if you go over there right now, whatever progress Santana may have made will be undone." Stephanie stepped back with her hands in surrender. Chloe barely surpressed her laugh, these women were going to be spit fires to work with. It was great, they would definitely make things more interesting.

* * *

"Do you like stories? I know a few good ones." Santana had been talking to Samara for almost ten minutes and the little girl was so close that Santana could easily reach out and touch her. She still wasn't going to make that move, this was Samara's choice. "Once upon a time there was a large castle that sat on the greenest land in the world. In this castle lived a marvelous queen with her tiny puppy dog." Santana spoke excitedly at the revelation of the puppy dog, hoping it would entice Samara. "This was puppy was so tiny, but his ears were huge. They were so big that they drug against the ground when he walked." While telling her story, Santana didn't notice that Sierra had woken up and was slowly making her way out from under the bed. Instead of trying to figure out how to dodge Santana, Sierra decided that she was going to make her presence known by turning Santana into her personal pillow. With her blanket and giraffe in hand, Sierra scooted close enough to Santana that she could rest her head on Santana's shoulder. Swinging her arm, her blanket billowed as it landed on Santana's chest. Momentarily stunned, Santana was afraid that moving even an inch would scare Sierra off. Sierra grunted as she snuggled herself as far as she could into Santana before tossing her little foot onto Santana's side. Deciding it would be worth the risk, Santana pulled her arm out from underneath her head and wrapped it around Sierra so that the child felt protected. She knew she was going to have to get up soon because laying flat on her back in the floor was going to be painful.

Seeing Sierra snuggling up to her new person lit a fire in Samara's belly. She was NOT going to take this new person away from her. She was so close to getting snuggles and what does Sierra do? She wakes up and takes them away! It wasn't fair. Samara squeezed her stuffed horses leg tightly in her hand as she too began to make her way out from under her bed. Santana was looking at Sierra but she could still see Samara out of the corner of her eye. The baby had such a determined look in her eyes with a deep set frown showing behind her pacifier. Someone was definitely jealous. Santana wanted to cackle at how cute Samara was, but it looked as if Sierra was dozing back off and she didn't want to disturb her.

Samara had reached her destination. Instead of getting into the same position as Sierra, Samara let go of her horse and placed both hands on Santana's arm, raising herself up. She was preparing herself for battle. Before Santana could register what it was exactly that Samara was doing she raised her little fist and hit Sierra's giraffe not once but twice in the head before grabbing it and giving it a hard yank. Sierra stirred instantly, big tears welling up in her eyes because some one was trying to take her giraffe. Samara gave a satisfied smirk that she had woke up Sierra. Realizing that Sierra was about to unleash some heavy water works, Santana sat up wrapping her arm around Samara so that she wouldn't fall.

"No love, we don't do that." Santana pouted and shook her head to emphasize what she was saying. Samara looked up at Santana with her big brown eyes and patted her on the cheek before dragging her hand down to Santana's mouth. Santana playfully bit at Samara's fingers making the little girl giggle. Noticing that her sister was laughing Sierra immediately dried her tears and done the same thing to Santana wanting her fingers bit too. She squealed in delight and buried her head into Santana's shoulder. Santana wrapped both arms around the girls and held them close. Using the strength in her legs, Santana pushed herself up onto one knee before standing up completely. Her knees popped from staying in one position for so long. She smiled triumphantly when she emerged from between the beds with both girls in her arms. "Are you two lovely ladies ready to eat lunch? Ms. Rachel and I have to go see the other kids now. I promise we will be back before we leave, okay?" Santana sat each of the girls into high chairs that Stephanie had cleared off for them. Both girls looked ten times happier than they did before. Santana was proud of herself...she done that. She had the power to make two babies happy...that was more than she ever bargained for.

* * *

**If you need a visual for Sierra and Samara, think Zola from Grey's Anatomy. She is actually played by twins, Jela K. and Jael Moore, (most baby actor and actresses are) however it's impossible to find pictures of them outside of their Grey's work. That's because babies typically aren't credited until they are older unless they are a major main character. Anyway, I love GA and I love Zola and every time I wrote Sierra or Samara, she is who I pictured. **

**Stephanie visual - Liz Gillies**


	52. Can We Do This?

Chloe smiled at the twins as Stephanie worked quickly to get their lunch items back out. Santana was standing behind the high chairs playing peak a boo with the girls, they were loving it. Rachel was still holding Matthew but she was watching Santana with a full heart. The immediate connection Santana seemed to have formed with the twins worried Rachel a little bit. If these were the girls that Santana fell in love with then Rachel would be beyond happy, however, they didn't know anything about these girls. How long had they been in the home? How long were they staying? Did they have family that were in the process of coming to pick them up? Was their parents working case plans to get them back? That was the devastation side to becoming foster parents. As quickly as a child was placed in your custody, they could just as quickly be removed. Rachel was worried that Santana and herself was just setting themselves up for eventual heart break. She could feel the tears already welling up in her eyes, maybe becoming foster parents weren't something they could handle.

"Oh wow, we have been in here a while. All the big kids should be down for lunch by now. We can go introduce you guys if you want and I can show you upstairs since the classrooms are empty." Chloe looked down at her watch and back up towards Rachel and Santana.

"Ye..yeah. We should go meet the other kids now." Rachel nodded and tried to suck back the tears that were still trying to fall. Don't cry now Rachel, wait until later. "I just..were should I put him?" Rachel held up her arms gesturing to the still slumbering Matthew. Santana could not only hear but see the distress on Rachel's face. Something was wrong.

"Is it okay if I run to the restroom before we meet the others?" Santana asked trying to be nonchalant and convey to Rachel that she needed to follow her.

"Sure. I will put Matthew in his crib and then meet you guys in the hall?" Chloe responded as she reached for Matthew.

As soon as the baby was out of Rachel's arms, Santana approached her and grabbed her hand leading her out of the nursery. "What's wrong Rachel?" Santana asked quietly as they made their way towards the bathroom. Rachel couldn't respond, she was trying to hold back a sob, all she could do was shake her head. Santana opened the bathroom door and checked to make sure it was empty before she turned to face Rachel. "Talk to me baby." Santana gently cupped Rachel's cheeks wiping the tears that were now falling with her thumbs.

"Can we do this? Can we really be foster parents? I was watching you with Sierra and Samara, those babies adore you already. And..and..little Matthew, he was so sweet and precious and I could hold him for hours just watching him sleep. Then I imagine them or someone like them coming to live with us and then being taken away. I don't know if I can handle heart break like that over and over." Rachel was full on crying now. Santana sighed, she knew exactly how Rachel felt. That's what you signed up for when you become foster parents though, you provide a stable, happy, healthy and safe home until the child or children can be placed back with their parents or relatives or be adopted.

"It's a hard situation. It takes strong people to be foster parents and I know we can be that strong. We are that strong. But if this is not the way that we want to expand our family anymore I need to know. We can start looking into donor's for one of us to carry, or a surrogate, we can even apply for adoption that way when or if we foster a child it will be for a more permanent situation." Santana brought Rachel's face forward and kissed her on the lips. She needed a connection with Rachel that was more than holding her face at the moment.

"Okay...we can do that. But can we talk about this more later?" Rachel said when Santana pulled back. "I really want to meet the other kids. I need to think about all of this. I'm not giving up on helping and volunteering and I don't want to give up on becoming foster parents. Like you, I need to make sure my head and heart can agree on this, though. Those twins though Santana...I can see you are already falling in love with them. Are you going to be able to handle volunteering here? We don't know anything about them or their situation, they could be gone the next time we come back." Rachel was now holding Santana, her arms around her waist.

"I promise we will definitely be talking more about this later. And I know. If they aren't here, I will be okay. This is my project, I will make myself be able to handle this if I have to. Therapy sessions everyday if need be. I can do this. We can do this. Plus, that's what we want right? We want them to get to go home and not have to be here. This is a nice place and so is the new place, but it isn't supposed to be a permanent home." Santana whispered as she pulled Rachel closer to her for a long hug. They needed to get cleaned up and head out of the rest room before Chloe came looking for them. There was still a lot of kids to meet.

* * *

Chloe was standing in the hallway waiting on Santana and Rachel just like she said she would. She took a moment to take in their appearance's when they came out of the rest room. This wasn't something new to her, she had had many volunteers need to take a moment after meeting kids for the first time. "This is a hard job and being a volunteer is a hard job. You want to take all of them home but you know you can't. You fall in love with their little faces and their laughs and you get so used to seeing them day after day and then one day you get the call that little Michelle or Jimmy is being reunited with their parents or a relative has been approved to take them. It's both heart breaking and heart warming. You miss them and you worry but to know they are going somewhere where they can get all the love and attention they deserve, it makes it a little easier. I don't know what plans you two may have for your future, but if it involves becoming foster parents, it's happened more than once that our volunteers become foster parents, you must know it's truly a rewarding experience. It's not easy, but really who said the best things in life were easy?" Chloe shrugged her shoulders, these women needed a pep talk because they could not go into the cafeteria with the big puppy dog eyes they were sporting at the moment.

Rachel and Santana both sighed and prepared themselves for the one of the biggest meeting of their lives. Rachel looked down at her outfit. Was she presentable enough? It was really too late now. The jeans and nice lavender blouse would have to do. Santana's mind was whirling in a while different direction, what if the kids were mean? She wasn't allowed to take out any punks. "Wait!" Santana needed a moment to gather her bearings.

"I know this is overwhelming, meeting them all at once. They know who you are and they know you are volunteering, they just don't know that you're here today. Some of the older ones are going to go nuts, Rachel's music is played a good bit here and Santana, some of them watch your lecture's on repeat and have actually been to a show or two of yours." Chloe was grinning from ear to ear.

"Wait, really?" Rachel asked in awe. They knew who she was and some of them were fans! That was more than exciting.

Chloe turned around from looking in the cafeteria window on one of the doors. "Most of them are tweens and teenagers. They keep up with the latest music and trends, hence you guys helping decorate the rooms. Agetha and I are "too old". You two really don't know your fame do you?" Chloe was shocked to say the least. "For some of these kids in here, you're like the power couple of their worlds."

"You're serious right now?" Santana waited for Chloe to answer, which she did with a head nod. "We don't read about ourselves, we have security that keeps the paparazzi away when we are in the city and McKinley is so small that no one bothers us there. I guess we really don't know our fame."

"You two are in for a loud awakening. You might want to hold your ears." Chloe giggled as she stepped back and opened the cafeteria door. She looked around the large room, almost everyone had made it through the line and was setting down to eat their lunch. The little kids were settling in nicely with their helpers making their rounds to check that everyone had everything they needed. "Guys! Settle down please." The older kids released a groan. "Oh, hush. You can go back to talking in a minute. I want to introduce you guys to the first set of our new volunteers that are going to start coming to hang out with everyone." That really got everyone's attention, you could hear a pin drop in the room. Even the little ones were looking on with wide excited eyes. "Are you ready?" Chloe asked the cafeteria, wincing when she received a very loud yes. "Okay, come on in." Chloe turned her attention back to the door where Santana and Rachel had been standing just out of view.

Rachel grabbed Santana's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze before they both entered the cafeteria. The entire room erupted into an applause. Loud cheers and whistles floated across the room. Both women shyly waved as Chloe tried her best to get the noise level down a quiet roar.

"Okay, okay settle down. I know you're excited to see them. As most of you know this is Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez. They are going to be volunteering here on a regular basis, so please mind your manners, be kind, be friendly, be respectable and everyone will get along great. Now ladies would either of you like to say anything and then you are more than welcome to join us for lunch. I know I still have to give you the upstairs tour of the classrooms, but we might have a few kids that would like to do that instead." Chloe stepped back and brought her hands down in a gesture offering the floor to the ladies if they would like to speak. Santana looked to Rachel letting her speak first.

"Okay..um. I'm Rachel. Rachel Berry." Rachel stopped speaking when the cafeteria erupted into cheers and whistles again. She laughed out loud before continuing. "We appreciate the warm welcome and we are just as excited to be here as you are to have us. I don't know how much you guys know?" Rachel looked to Chloe for guidance.

"They know everything."

"Great! So you guys know we are here to help out with whatever you need and that we are decorating rooms for you at the new place." Everyone began to cheer again. The teens had been the happiest when they had heard about the list of people who were going to be helping with the new place. "We have some really good ideas, but we want your opinion and your ideas too. I think Mrs. Stidham is out right now asking the other guys at the other homes about their ideas. But all of that is in the future. Right now, I guess I just want to say thank you for allowing us to come into your home and be a part of your world. Santana, is there anything else you want to add to that?" Rachel turned her head to look at Santana who was staring longingly at a little Latina boy, swinging his feet as he munched on a carrot stick.

"Yeah, sure." Santana cleared her throat before she began to speak as the applause and whistles settled back down once again. "Like Rachel said, we are here for whatever you need. Please don't be afraid to come talk to us or ask us questions. We're here for you guys. I know that you all have been working on your pieces for the art show coming up and I would love to see them if you will allow me. I know I sometimes don't like people to look at my stuff before it's done." Santana shrugged her shoulders as some of the children laughed. "Lastly, I just want to say thank you again for allowing us to visit. We have some super exciting fun things for you guys to be involved in and I honestly can't wait to get started."

Everyone began to clap. "So lunch ladies?" Chloe asked.

"Lunch would be great. Can we sit with some of you guys?" Santana asked the lunch room that erupted in cheers of _over_ _here's_ and _sit_ _by_ _me's_. She laughed to herself as she and Rachel were handed trays. This was going to be such an exciting experience.


	53. Plea Bargain

"I had so much fun yesterday." Santana groaned as she stretched her body out. Playing with babies and hanging out with kids half your age really took a lot out of a person. After having lunch with the kids, they had finished the tour for Chloe and showed Rachel and Santana their rooms. The children's home overall was a very nice building, but it was definitely too small for the amount of children that currently lived there. The older kids rooms were pretty good size, however with at least three beds in each of them with each kids stuff, it was crowded to say the least. Santana couldn't be more excited for the children to move into their new home in a few months.

"I knowww. I can't wait to go back. I wish I could go with you today and tomorrow instead of working." Rachel who had been trying to decide what shirt to wear turned around and pouted at Santana. She sighed as she dropped the shirt she was holding in her hand and climbed back into bed laying down on top of Santana. "I don't want to go to work today." Rachel whined into Santana's neck.

"I don't care how much someone loves their job, sometimes work sucks. But you have to go if you want to stay steady working on your album. I have to work this morning before I leave. I hope I can get a painting or two done." Santana rubbed her hands up and down Rachel's back. She needed to get up soon because if Rachel got too comfortable she would fall back asleep.

"How many paintings do you officially have left to do? I know you worked on them some when we got home last night." Rachel furrowed her eyebrows as she traced her fingers along Santana's collar bone.

"Mmmm, I have four well technically five left to do. I probably have emails from Peter too, the signs are supposed to be delivered sometime this week."

"Technically five?" Rachel questioned before she began to laugh at Santana's full teeth grin.

"I have four that I haven't even primed canvas for and two that are about half way done each. So. Technically five." Santana held up her hand indicating for Rachel to give her a high five. She laughed and flipped Rachel over onto her back before kissing her deeply. "You have to go to work now." Santana whispered as she stared into Rachel's eyes.

"I can't go to work with no shirt on and my naked fiance laying on top of me."

Santana pulled her head back in fake shock and hurt. "Who said?"

"I said! Now move so I can go." Rachel playfully smacked Santana on the ass which had came uncovered when they were rolling around in the bed.

Instead of causing Santana to move, Rachel had lit a fire that wasn't going to be put out anytime soon. "Don't start something you can't finish." Santana shifted slightly so that she was now nestled right between Rachel's legs. Using what leverage she had, Rachel wrapped her legs around Santana's waist and rolled them again, successfully putting herself right in Santana's lap.

"I have to go to work. I promise we can continue this when I get home this evening." Rachel kissed Santana, sucking on her lower lip as she pulled back. She cupped her face, squishing her cheeks together before she pecked Santana on the lips once more before moving off the bed completely and grabbing her shirt. She was already running late and staying in bed with Santana would have just made it worse.

Santana groaned loudly as she tossed around in the bed kicking the covers off herself before she sighed heavily and decided to get up. The least she could do was make Rachel some coffee and breakfast to go as an apology for trying to make her later than what she already was.

* * *

Santana was tapping her fingers on the steering wheel of her jeep as she pulled into the police station parking lot. She was in the middle of working on her paintings when Chief Sylvester had called asking her to stop by when she had the chance. They had to make this meeting quick seeing as Santana was supposed to be at the children's home at two and it was now noon. Santana had hoped that Rachel would be able to meet her, but circumstances wouldn't allow Rachel to leave the studio for lunch if she wanted to make it home on time. Santana understood, it was part of having such a taxing career. Whatever Chief Sylvester had to say, Santana could fill Rachel in on it when she got home this evening.

Walking through the doors of the station, Santana was greeted with Becky's ever pleasant tone. "Go on back, she's waiting on you sand bags."

"What?" Santana asked confused as she looked down at herself. Where in the world had that nickname came from? Becky didn't respond, she just rolled her eyes and went back to doing whatever it was that Chief Sylvester had her doing all day. Okay...Santana thought to herself as she walked down the hall towards Chief Sylvester's door that was partially open already. She knocked lightly and waited for the chief to respond.

"Come in Lopez, I can smell the leather of your over priced boots from here." Santana sighed and pushed open the door.

"For your information, these boots were a gift and they weren't over priced. They're Dr. Martens which overall makes pretty good stuff. So shut it and tell me why I am here?" Santana crossed her arms and stood in front of Chief Sylvester's desk. If the woman was going to start off with insults then Santana definitely wasn't going to take the time to sit down.

"Do we need to wait on Rachel?" Sue asked as she looked towards the door as if Rachel was going to pop around the corner and yell surprise.

"No, she has to work through lunch since she wants to get home on time today."

"Well, I will make this short and sweet since I have stuff to do and I am assuming you do too." Sue shuffled some papers around on her desk.

"I am actually on my way to the children's home." Santana dragged her feet towards a chair, apparently this conversation wasn't going to be as quick as she had hoped.

"I went out there yesterday morning before my shift to see Agetha. The camera crew will be there today, well they will be if there aren't anymore incidents." Sue spoke offhandedly.

"What kind of incidents?" Santana and Rachel knew that something had happened yesterday, but no one was allowed to give any information.

"A mother showed up under the influence for a morning visit and caused a scene. Turns out that was her last chance before her parental rights were officially terminated. Now if her child or children can't be placed with relatives then they will stay at the home until some decent foster parents come along. It's a sad situation for everyone involved."

"Yeah, it really is. So, what exactly is going on that you needed to see me and Rachel?" Santana asked as she scooted forward in her chair and rested her hands on her knees.

"Right. There's not going to be a trial with Jasper, Charles, and Ronald. They are all taking plea bargains for a bit of a shorter sentence. Also, I heard some news about Conner. We already knew he was placed in isolation, but they added ten years onto his sentence and took away his possibility for parole. The closest he is ever going to get to sunshine now is in the yard." Sue looked to Santana with her hands folded neatly in front of her.

"What kind of plea bargains are Jasper, Charles and Ronald being offered?"

"That I don't know yet. All I know is that a judge approved for plea bargains to be offered. I will let you know more when I know more."

"Is that it?" Sue nodded her head. "Well, I will let Rachel know. I'm going to grab some lunch before I head to St. Lawrence. I know you said you had stuff to do, but you're more than welcome to join me if you want." Santana shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't going to admit that she would really enjoy the company. Sue would just mock her for it.

"I got my lunch right here." Sue pulled out her famous blender cup and turned it on. "Thanks for the offer though!" Sue shouted over the oddly very loud blender. How could something so small make so much noise? Santana nodded her head and waved over her shoulder as she left the station and headed for McKinley Diner, the best place in McKinley to eat, besides her own kitchen of course.

* * *

After grabbing lunch and having a quick phone conversation with Rachel, Santana now found herself sitting on the floor in the nursery reading. She quietly read the words of _The_ _Very Hungry_ _Caterpillar_ before showing the toddlers the pictures. Santana smiled to herself, as a child this had been one of her favorite books.

After stopping in to visit the older children, Santana had made her way back to the nursery where the babies were just being put down for their nap. In order to get the toddlers to settle down, Santana had offered to read them a story before their nap time. Three were already down for the count and now all that remained were Sierra, Samara, and a little two year old boy named Benton.

Admittedly Santana had been worried that the twins wouldn't remember her and she would have to get them to warm up to her again, however that had not been the case. As soon as Santana had entered the nursery, Sierra and Samara had ran to her as fast as their little legs could move tripping over each other in an effort to get to Santana. It made her heart smile as she kneeled down on the floor to gather both girls into a hug. They had immediately made themselves comfortable, resting their heads on Santana's shoulders. Santana knew she was in trouble, she was quickly becoming attached to these little girls and it was apparent they were becoming attached to her.

The camera crew had been in once, but at Stephanie's request they had left telling Santana they would catch up with her later. It would just be too much of a distraction for the little ones trying to fall asleep. Finishing up the book, Santana noticed that Benton had made himself comfy leaning on her leg and was now snoring softly. She motioned for Stephanie to come and grab him so that he could rest properly in his bed. Sierra and Samara both seemed to not be interested in sleeping because they sat on either side of Santana watching her as if saying "that's it?".

Bobbing her head back and forth, Santana was trying to figure out what to try next when she noticed the glider sitting in the corner of the designated play area. That just may work, Santana thought to herself. Santana reached around Samara who was sitting on her right to put the book away before slowly standing up. Both girls began to whine at the loss of contact. Quickly shushing the girls quietly, she turned around and stood both of them up, taking their hands and leading them to the glider.

"You have both had lunch, you've had sippy cups of milk, your diapers changed and a story read to you. Now, it's time for naps." Santana said as she sat down in the chair before reaching for Sierra and Samara one at a time so that she could adjust them on her lap and rock both of them comfortably. Stephanie smiled at the interactions before gathering Sierra and Samara's favorite stuffed animals and blankets and handing them to Santana. Each girl grabbed her respected stuffed toy and settled against Santana who covered them up.

Ah yes, Samara smiled at her sister as they listened to Santana hum a lullaby. This was great. Full tummies, warm blankies, dry diaper and a lovely lady whom was now rocking them. If every day could be like this, they would have it made. Sometimes the stories were cut short because a baby woke up and rocking almost never happened unless they were super fussy. It was nice to be rocked without having to throw a fit about it. Santana watched as both girls eyes began to droop, she silently cheered in her head. The girls looked so cute snuggled up in their green and yellow with black stripes hooded jumpsuits. Santana decided she needed to get her a jumpsuit like that, they even had little pockets! Once both girls were asleep, Stephanie helped Santana move them before she quietly left the room to go hang out with the older kids. She would be back to spend more time with the babies and toddlers before she left for the evening.


	54. Hose 'em Down

Santana made her way up the set of back steps that led to the classrooms in the children's home. Quiet time was officially starting and some of the children who didn't have homework had been given permission to work on their art pieces for their show. Rachel, who had shown up after work, was with another group working with them on music history for a test they had coming up. Santana had been worried that Rachel wasn't going to get to come today, but after working all through lunch she had finished early and was able to leave. Adjusting her microphone's battery pack that was attached to her belt, Santana pushed open the classroom door, the camera crew following close behind. All the children were busy setting up their easel's and gathering brushes, too busy to really pay attention to her. Sticking close to the wall, Santana walked around the room observing the children who had already started to work on their paintings. They were actually really good, something that she was not surprised to see since this was an older group of kids.

"You know, we need to do more shows for you guys more often. It would be great exposure for those of you wanting to pursue an art degree. Which reminds me, we need to look into scholarships for you since you will be starting your last year of high school this year." Santana stopped and was looking over the shoulder of Ashley, a seventeen year old girl who had mentioned in passing that she too would like to do what Santana does.

"Ms. S?" A tall muscular boy spoke from the back of the classroom leaning around his easel.

"What's up Rj?" Santana asked as she made her way to the back of the room. She came to a stop when she saw that Rj's canvas was blank.

"I can't do this. None of this is my style. I know what I want to paint, but I'm not used to brushes and fancy looking paints." Rj sighed while rubbing the edge of his apron that was draped across his knees.

"What's your style then huh?" Santana asked as she playfully nudged Rj on the shoulder.

"Spray paint." Rj looked up at Santana and grinned.

"Free hand or stencils?"

"Free hand definitely." Santana nodded her head in approval. She had done some work with spray paint before but she preferred something more controllable like her brushes.

"Does anybody else prefer spray paint?" A few kids raised their hands. "Okay, well I know we don't have any spray paint today and I am sorry for that, but I can gather you guys some stuff up if Mrs. Stidham and Chloe clears it. If they don't clear it we will have to figure something else out, like an air brush kit." Santana was glad when her ears where met with happy cheers.

"I don't think any of us huff paint, so I don't see why they wouldn't clear it." Rj shrugged his shoulders as he began to gather his painting supplies and put them up for another day.

"I believe you, but there's a reason you have to have an I.D. when you buy the stuff. It's a flammable and toxic substance. You have to have proper eye and lung protection when you use it. So yes, you all will be wearing respirators. But, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here, I have to ask and they have to approve. So, I will see what I can do." Santana held up her hands in surrender. She really hoped that if she volunteered to personally over see the use of the spray paint they might clear it easier.

* * *

Rachel closed the classroom door quietly. The children were in the process of going over all their notes that they needed for their test. It had been a long day at the studio writing and going over vocals, Rachel was tired but she wasn't ready to go home just yet. The camera crew thanked her as she unclipped her microphone, most of the rest of filming would be at the new home when they started doing the rooms, they were done here for now. Walking down the hallway, Rachel paused and looked into the window of the door where the children were supposed to be painting.

"Santana headed down to the nursery. You just missed her." Thomas, one of the crew who had been filming with Santana, spoke as he walked down the hall in Rachel's direction. He must have been packing up his gear, Rachel determined, when she seen the large black bag at the end of the hallway.

"Thank you. Are you guys done filming for the day?" Rachel asked as she nodded towards the bag.

"Yep. I've just got to get a battery pack that I left laying and we will be on our way to the new place to film. You guys start coming out there next week right?" Thomas asked as he paused in front of the door with his hand resting on the door knob.

"Everyone starts next Monday. Well, we start on the dorms next Monday, it's still going to be a while before the first floor is finished and ready for decorating."

"Yeah, we've been out there. They have all the new framing done. Those rooms are huge. It's going to be nice. But, anyway. I've got to go before the boss man comes looking for me." Thomas chuckled before he made a mock scare face. Rachel laughed before telling him bye and making her way back downstairs to see what exactly Santana was up to in the nursery. Rachel was sure before she even made it half way down the stairs that Santana would be playing with Samara and Sierra.

* * *

"Hi San." Rachel spoke quietly as she pushed open the nursery room door. She looked around for a moment before posing the question that was on her mind. "Where's Stephanie at?"

"I'm in here." Stephanie stuck her head out of the bathroom door, breathlessly with a huge grin on her face. "Bath time. Always an adventure around here." Stephanie pulled the bathroom door open to reveal her partially wet clothing. Rachel chuckled before she finally took note that Santana was in the process of dressing Matthew on a changing mat in the floor. "Rachel, if you grab another mat out of the fourth cabinet there on the wall, you can grab this next baby. This is just the beginning, we still have toddlers to do and they will be filthy since Rich has them outside at the moment."

"Okay." Rachel walked over the cabinet and stood on her tippy toes in order to grab a mat. Thankfully they were on the bottom shelf. "Now what?" Rachel asked after she walked over and spread out her mat next to Santana. She was nervous, she had never done anything like this before. Rachel wasn't going to admit that she felt a little helpless.

"Hey, you're okay." Santana whispered quietly. "When Stephanie is done bathing the baby, you go get her and grab her diaper and pajamas off the table. Here is the lotion." Santana moved the pink bottle over that she had been using. "You know how to diaper and dress a baby. I'm going to sit this little guy in his boppy pillow and get the next baby ready." Santana placed Matthew, that was now dressed in dinosaur footie pajamas into his boppy pillow and handed him a toy before she stood up to get the next baby out of his crib. Matthew kicked his legs excitedly and began to chew on the plastic keys that Santana handed him.

"Rachel? This one is ready." Stephanie called from the bathroom. Rachel stood up glancing between the bathroom door and Matthew. Was it okay to just..walk away?

"Naked baby coming through! You better not pee on me Hunter." Santana laughed as she carried a squirming naked baby back to the play area and headed towards the bathroom door. She stopped short when she noticed that Rachel was just standing there looking between the bathroom and the baby. "Rachel...he's okay. Look, I will stand right here and watch him while you go get the baby that's ready to come out of the bath." Rachel looked at Santana before looking between the baby and bathroom door again before nodding and heading into the bathroom to retrieve her baby that she needed to dress.

When Rachel came out of the bathroom carrying the little nine month old named Jasmine, Santana couldn't contain her grin. She was being so careful to walk as slowly as possible. "You're not going to drop her. You can walk a little faster Rach. She's going to start getting cold in about two point five seconds if you don't move your cute little behind and get her dressed." Santana chuckled as Rachel looked at her with wide eyes. She didn't want to upset Jasmine at all. "You're okay." Santana walked over and kissed Rachel on her temple before waiting for Rachel to sit down and start putting the lotion on Jasmine. After Rachel had settled in, Santana took Hunter into the bathroom so that he too could have his bath before Rich brought the toddlers back in. Rachel huffed, you would think she would be the one reassuring Santana that everything was fine and that she was doing a great job, but nope the tables had turned. After drying Jasmine off, Rachel began to slather her in lotion, the baby seemed to enjoy it as she kicked her feet and babbled at Rachel who happily engaged her in conversation. Matthew decided to babble along as well, he didn't want to be left out.

* * *

Thirty minutes later while Matthew, Jasmine, Hunter and Princeton were being fed their nightly bottles by some older kids who liked to help out, Rich brought the toddlers back in. "Special delivery! Six thoroughly worn out and dirty tiny humans." Santana, Stephanie and Rachel all stood up from the table where they had been resting waiting on Rich. They knew that this was going to be more challenging than bathing and dressing the babies.

As soon as Benton seen Stephanie he took off running towards her, his shaggy blonde hair falling into his eyes. "S'ephy! Baff?" Sierra and Samara of course took off towards Santana, who was just as happy to see them. The other three toddlers; Gavin, Alexis, and Cameron, were more quiet and reserved. Everything was still fairly new to them. Santana had learned that they had only been there about a week, coming in within days of each other. It was natural that they were still feeling out their surroundings and not really interested in getting to know anyone.

"Is everyone ready for a bath?" Stephanie asked as she picked Benton up and kissed his cheek causing him to blush and bury his head in her neck.

"Baf!" Samara shrieked before giggling to herself and falling backwards onto Santana's chest.

"That's a new one. Good job Samara!" Stephanie praised the little girl who continued to laugh at herself.

"Okay. Let's get some pajamas for everyone and get this show on the road. Bean, do you want to pick out your pajamas?" Stephanie asked the little boy who had yet to show his face again.

"Me Ben. Not Bean." Benton raised his head, giving Stephanie a disgruntle look.

"I thought your name was Bean?!" Stephanie asked in mock seriousness. The little shook his head and folded his arms. "My apologies good sir! Do you want a Mickey or Sulley pullup tonight?" Santana listened to Stephanie trail off talking to Benton as they made their way towards his cubbie in the back of the room. There was no doubt in her mind that Stephanie was probably already in the middle of making plans on taking that little boy home with her.

Rachel was staring longingly at Gavin, Alexis and Cameron. They had made their way over the play area after Rich left and began to play by themselves. Even if they weren't making connections with anyone else, at least they had found some form of bond between each other, that had to count for something. Rachel turned her head to look at Santana who was playing with Sierra and Samara, each girl occupying a knee.

"Let's get you two little ladies some pajama's too." Santana spoke with a country accent as she bounced the twins up and down. Her eyes lit up when she saw Rachel watching them. "Looky here at this cowgirl. I do believe she has done lassoed my heart." Rachel laughed, tossing her head back.

"You have lost your mind." Rachel said as she placed her hand on her chest. Looking at each of the twins, Rachel determined it was fairly easy to tell them apart. Samara's eyes were a dark brown while Sierra's were more hazel. The hair was also a give away as to who was who, Samara's was done in braids with little beads while Sierra's hair was currently in it's natural state. Her little curls bounced every time she moved her head. "If you're going to get pajama's for these cuties, I think I will help out the others that way we can get more done." Santana nodded her head as she too made her way towards the cubbies.

"Benton has determined he wants to wear a Sulley pull up tonight." Stephanie smiled at the little boy as he proudly held up his chosen pull up. "Rachel and Santana, just so you guys know, pull ups or diapers are in the bottom drawers of everyone's cubicle. Pajama's are in the first bins when you open the doors. Socks are in the second bins if their pajama's aren't footed, we don't want anyone to get cold." Santana responded with an okay as Rachel made her way over to Gavin, Alexis and Cameron. If these toddlers were too shy to introduce themselves, well Rachel was just the person to pull them out of their shells.

* * *

**There will be more about Sierra and Samara's mother in upcoming chapters. But I will go ahead and confirm that yes she is the one from the "incident". ****I love writing for all the babies, toddlers and older kids, but having Santana and Rachel have ten kids by the end of the story is too many, haha.**

**Thank you all for the views, reviews, follows, comments and favorites. I appreciate all of them and so much.**


	55. Wedding Planning

Rachel huffed and turned over in the bed trying to drown out the constant knocking on the cabin door. Really? Were most of her mornings destined to start out this way?! It was Saturday, her first day off all week and someone was knocking on the door at...eight in the morning?! Rachel's eyes widened when she noticed the time on the clock. Where in the world was Santana? If Santana had still been in bed, Rachel wouldn't have been able to see the clock. Both women had made plans to sleep in since they hadn't had the chance too all week. Today was supposed to be a free day until around six this evening. Rachel sighed as the knocking stopped and her cell phone began to ring.

"Uggghhh." Rachel covered her head with her pillow. Maybe if she ignored everything it would all just stop. She knew she should get up, it could be Sue with an update about the plea bargains. Nah, if it was Sue she would be pounding on the door, not knocking.

"Rachel?! Are you awake yet?!" Santana shouted as she ran up the stairs. "I have made a huge mistake. Please don't hurt me." Santana nervously wrung her hands together.

"What did you do? Does it have something to do with the knocking on the door and my cell phone ringing?" Rachel asked from under her pillow that she had yet to move.

"Maybe." Santana gave an impish grin even though Rachel couldn't see her.

"I'm going to ask one more time. What did you do Santana Lopez?!" Rachel tossed the pillow off her face. Her hair was ruffled and splayed all over her pillow.

"I couldn't sleep so I got up to work on my paintings. My phone was laying on the kitchen counter and I had a few missed messages and calls and one was from your dad asking about wedding stuff and I answered him back and told him it would probably be best to ask you and he said great that he would round up Shelby and Cassie and they would come over in a while. I didn't know in a while would be right now." Santana took a deep breath. Speaking really fast was something she had became better at through out her relationship with Rachel. Rachel..her beautiful fiance'...Rachel whom looked as if she was about to murder Santana. "I'm so sorry, I just didn't have the heart to tell him no. Besides, we need to get some of this stuff done anyway. I swear I will make it up to you."

"Fineeeee..." Rachel whined while tossing her arm over her eyes. "Go let them in before they leave. I actually want to see what all they have done already."

"Okay. I love you and I will make some coffee and breakfast. If they're eating they can't talk as loud or as fast." Santana grinned before she kissed Rachel on the cheek and then sprinted down the stairs to let the parents in. Today was going to be a long ass day.

* * *

"We know your wedding is on the twentieth and that you don't want a Christmas wedding, but you realize you're walking a fine line with the colors you picked, right?" Shelby asked Rachel and Santana as they all sat at the kitchen island. Wedding magazines and book galore covered the counter.

"What's wrong with burgundy, hunter green and gold?" Santana asked in a slightly offended tone. "We can do those colors without going full blown Christmas. We didn't do white or blue because we will have a natural winter wonderland, we didn't need to make a fake one."

"Calm down Lopez. We just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into. We've already picked the best flowers in our opinion that doesn't scream Christmas, now you guys need to decide what you like. Don't pick something just because we like it either, it's your wedding. We're just here to make all this easier." Cassie was looking through a magazine as she spoke. Today Leroy and Shelby had tasked her with picking name cards for the tables. That was easier said than done since there were so many.

"We trust your judgement, we can pick from your recommendations." Rachel responded before taking a bite of her toast. True to her word, Santana had came downstairs and fixed a large pot of coffee and breakfast for everyone. The food had only worked for a little while before Leroy and Shelby became anxious and started unloading all of their books. Cassie was more or less just along for the ride.

"We honestly don't have much left to do in terms of picking things out. You've already picked your invitations, you have a meeting soon with the decorating company, that's why you have to pick your flowers. With them you will also pick your chairs and their covers, your dishes, silverware, and glasses; oh and your arch or background where you plan on standing. Brittany and Blaine are recording and taking photographs, Kurt insists on designing your dresses or a pant suit if that's what you want to wear Santana. You have a cake tasting next Wednesday and we have to call the catering company with meal and drink plans after we have a finalized people count." Leroy looked up from his legal pad that he had everything written on. They were far more ahead than any of them anticipated.

"There is one thing that you guys are forgetting." Cassie mumbled from behind her magazine. When no one acknowledged her she lowered the magazine until her eyes were peeping over the top. "Really? None of you know what I am talking about?" Still no answer. "Their wedding bands. We have almost everything in order and no one realized except for me that they haven't chosen their wedding bands?" Cassie tossed her magazine down on the counter before tilting her head back and rubbing her hands up and down her face.

Santana rolled her eyes. Sometimes Cassandra July was over dramatic. "We have plenty of time to pick our wedding bands. What I really want to know is why are we going to see a decorating company? I thought that's what you guys were for?"

Everyone except for Santana began to laugh. "Honey, there's going to be at least one hundred people there. The wedding and reception is on one of the sound stages at the studio, they can't set all of that up by themselves. Especially given the fact that everyone is so busy right now. We're doing a lot of this right now because Shelby and Cassie just went back to work and Dad's first movie will start filming in a month or so. Plus, we got them involved in volunteering and decorating the children's home. They need the help, plain and simple."

"Oh...well I guess I see your point. Speaking of, are you three coming to the giant cook out tonight at the children's home?" Santana asked while she began to doodle on a legal pad that Leroy had provided for her and Rachel to take notes.

"Of course we are. I think all the volunteers are coming that way any of them who haven't met the children can go ahead and meet them." Shelby, who had been going over the name cards that Cassie had suggested, answered.

"I'm so excited, I feel like I haven't seen the twins in ages." Santana pouted.

"It's only been two days love." Rachel rubbed Santana's back. It had been two whole days since they had been at the children's home, but they had to be fair and give other people the chance to volunteer.

"Who are the twins?" Shelby asked with a pensive look on her face.

"Their names are Sierra and Samara. They're fourteen month old African American twins and so damn adorable. Sierra has a thing for giraffe's and Samara prefers horses. They're perfect little angels and the last time we were there, Samara learned a new word! She said bath, well her version of bath but still!" Santana continued to gush about the twins while Shelby hung on to every word she said. Rachel could tell that Santana was making everyone fall in love with Sierra and Samara.

"Why didn't we get to meet them? We were there yesterday for a while." Cassie wondered out loud.

"Friday's are appointment days. Doctor checkups, dentist checkups, social worker meetings. They try and fit as much as they can into one day." Santana explained. Admittedly she was worried, if the girls weren't there then they must have had some kind of appointment. What if the girls weren't there at the cook out this evening?

Rachel could tell that Santana was starting to get herself worked up. She leaned over and kissed Santana on the temple. "I'm sure they are okay. We can check on them when we get there this evening." Santana smiled sadly and nodded her head. Rachel knew just how to read her and calm her down before her head could spin away.

* * *

Santana stood anxiously waiting on the babies and toddlers to come out of the building. Everyone else was running around the yard while other volunteers worked the grills and helped set up the food. Rachel was chatting with some of the older kids who had gotten their music test scores back, Shelby and Cassie were chatting with some kids who were interested in taking dance lessons, Leroy was inside with Bayani, Puck and Quinn unloading some batches of new books into the classrooms and everyone else was getting to know the rest of the kids.

Finally, Santana saw Stephanie and Rich leading out the group of toddlers except..two were missing. Sierra and Samara were not in the group. Santana quickly made her way through the large crowd of people, she could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes.

"Hi Santana! It's good to see you. Did everyone make it this evening?" Stephanie asked enthusiastically, she hadn't noticed how upset Santana was becoming.

"Yeah, pretty much everyone is here. Some are on their way. Listen Stephanie, were is Sierra and Samara?" Santana looked over Stephanie's shoulder, maybe Nicky was going to bring them out or something.

"They're inside." Stephanie said with a frown. "They had a rough night."

"What's wrong? What happened to them?" Santana was starting to freak out a little bit since she wasn't getting exact answers.

"They had doctors appointments yesterday and were behind on some shots." Stephanie sighed and looked back towards the door. "Let's just say it's been a long day, they just want to cry and sleep. We've tried everything, warm baths, rocking, reading stories and nothing has soothed them. It took forever to calm down enough to eat a little bit of lunch. I think they need a special touch that we just can't provide for them and that kills me. Those girls have been with us since they were six months old. We've been through evaluation after evaluation and no one has stepped up to take them or completed a case plan for them. Sometimes all a child needs is a mothers or fathers touch and that's something we can't provide." Stephanie shrugged her shoulders, she wasn't giving up but she was at a loss as to what to do.

"Can I go see them?" Santana asked quietly.

"Sure. Nicky is in there with them right now. They were asleep but with all of this going on, they might be awake." Santana nodded her thanks and turned around to get Rachel's attention, motioning that she was going into the building. Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at first until Santana mouthed Sierra and Samara at her. Rachel nodded once that she understood and watched Santana take off into the building. She would give Santana a moment alone with the girls before she followed her, Santana would come and get her if she needed her sooner.


	56. Can You Imagine?

When Santana opened the nursery room door, she wasn't exactly sure which scenario she would be met with. Stephanie said the girls would either be asleep or awake and possibly crying. Santana's heart broke immediately when she noticed that both girls were indeed awake and crying, however their cries were muted by their pacifiers. Nicky was walking back and forth up and down the length of the beds, bouncing a little with each step trying to sooth the girls the best he could. Santana smiled sympathetically.

"Can I have one?" Santana motioned to the twins.

"Oh, Santana. I didn't even see you come in." Nicky smiled tiredly, he had definitely had a long day also.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you." Santana chuckled as she linked her hands behind her back.

"That's okay. It happens sometimes." Nicky shrugged his shoulders, dislodging Sierra who had laid her head down on his shoulder. She immediately began to cry; big, angry tears running down her cheeks. Nicky looked to the ceiling, he was ready to cry himself.

"Here, let me take her." Santana motioned to Sierra. Nicky stepped over to Santana and let her take Sierra out of his arm. It took the little girl a second to realize who had her before she started crying all over again, successfully spitting out her pacifier. Santana would swear later on that it was happy tears. "Shhhhh. You're okay. Sanny has you. It's okay baby bug, you're okay." Santana coaxed, trying to get Sierra to stop crying before she triggered Samara into crying louder. Sierra laid her head on Santana's shoulder as the woman rubbed her back and rocked side to side. "Are you hungry little one?"

"They both have those Gerber self pick up trays ready to eat as soon as they both calm down." Nicky was holding Samara in the same fashion as Santana was holding Sierra since he now had both arms free. "They're in the first cabinet there and they have sippy cups of juice in the fridge."

Samara took notice that Sierra was being held by Santana and began to whine wanting to be held too. Nicky just wasn't cutting it anymore. She reached her little arms out, opening and closing her fists in Santana's direction. "Okay, let's put you in the high chair and let me get your sister and then I will feed both of you. I think that sounds like a pretty fair plan, just..don't start screaming please." Santana begged. Hopefully the girls would catch onto her desperation to make them feel better and listen.

Nicky and Santana made quick work of putting Sierra and Samara in their high chairs, the twins must have heard Santana because neither made very much fuss. That was until Santana turned around and squatted down on the balls of her feet in order to grab the sippy cups out of the mini-fridge. Immediately they began to cry when she was out of sight. Standing up quickly, Santana started to laugh as the twins instantly stopped crying. "You two are so silly. You're just being mean to Nicky now with all that crying." Santana said as she walked around the table and sat Sierra's giraffe sippy cup and Samara's monkey sippy cup on their trays. "Okay, let's get you ladies something to eat so that you can go outside for a while. We can go see Ms. Rachel and see what she is up to. They are allowed to go out aren't they?" Santana looked towards Nicky who was now checking on the babies still in the room.

"Yeah, they can go out. They're not sick or anything just super fussy because their little legs are sore." Nicky frowned at the girls, he understood their pain. When you have sensitive skin, shots always hurt worse.

Santana nodded her head as she pulled two Gerber Graduate's trays out of the top cabinet. "Which one of you wants mashed potatoes and meatloaf nuggets?" Samara began to reach her fist out making a grabbing motion. "Okay, that means you Sierra get the chicken and pasta wheels." Nicky stood back and watched how Santana moved around the room gathering things for the girls and keeping them entertained. Neither girl was even making a whimper. As soon as she had came into the nursery and both girls seen her, they had done complete one-eighties. It was truly something to see, Stephanie had mentioned the immediate connection that Santana had with the twins, but this was the first time that Nicky was witness to it first hand. Santana Lopez was the touch that Sierra and Samara had been craving for comfort.

* * *

"Rachel! Do you want to come inside and help me bring out the babies if any of them are awake?" Stephanie asked as she walked up to Rachel who had been playing with Alexis, Gavin and Cameron. The little ones seemed to be opening up more as they had recently found friends in some of the slightly older kids. Rachel thinks they liked the attention considering all the older children in the home loved to dote on the toddlers.

"Sure. I should probably check on Santana too, she hasn't been back out since she went in to check on the twins." Rachel replied as she tossed the wiffle ball she was holding to Andrea, a thirteen year old who had only introduced herself to Rachel tonight.

As Rachel and Stephanie made their way into the building, Rachel couldn't help but to look around at everyone. There was a lot of people here tonight. Every volunteer that Santana had recruited, all the volunteers already at the children's home, their workers and all the kids, Rachel wasn't sure how they all were fitting out here in the back yard. Rachel chuckled to herself, this cook out had been a surprise of sorts. A celebration to officially start the transition of preparing the new home since almost everything was on schedule to start decorating Monday. It was a little surreal to know that soon this home would house a whole new set of children and their volunteers. That had been the plan all along though, The St. Lawrence Children's Home would combine with two other homes and this current home would house a whole new group that actually fit in the building. It was time for someone else to grow in this beautiful home.

Stephanie pushed open the door of the nursery and was surprised to see two smiling little girls eating dinner in their high chairs. She wasn't sure who was more messy, the chairs or the girls. Santana was laughing as Samara stuffed another meatloaf nugget into her mouth. "Is that good baby?" Santana asked as she tried to wipe Sierra's mouth who was having none of that. Santana knew they both would need baths anyway soon.

Rachel stepped into the doorway and lingered by the washer and dryer doors. Santana had made an amazing connection with the twins and it was beautiful to watch. However, Rachel realized that she hadn't been making that much effort to get to know the twins. Admittedly she was too afraid to get attached to them. It was something that she hadn't dared divulge to anyone but herself. She had been putting more effort into not getting attached than anything, it was a real struggle when her walls were slowly crumbling and she found herself wanting to be as close as Santana was to the twins.

"Hi guys." Santana turned around to great Stephanie and Rachel. "We got a little carried away with dinner. They need baths before coming outside."

"That's okay. Rachel and I were just coming to see if any of the babies were awake and would like come outside for a while." Stephanie spoke as she made her way towards the cribs. She could see that Hunter and Princeton were awake. Two out of four wasn't bad, but the other two needed to wake up so that they would be able to sleep tonight.

"Uhm...actually. Could I stay and help Santana with the twins?" Rachel wondered. Stephanie and Santana both looked a little surprised. Maybe she hadn't been as secretive about her plan to stay unattached as she had thought.

"Yeah, Nicky can help me right?" Stephanie looked in Nicky's direction as he was looking through Sierra and Samara's cubicles for clothes for them to put on.

"Of course. Rachel can finish picking out their clothes if she wants." Nicky shrugged his shoulders as he stood up and offered the jeans and short sleeved little button up that he had pulled out for Samara to Rachel.

"Oh my gosh. San! Look! She has clothes that look like yours!" Rachel gushed over the outfit as everyone laughed lightly. Santana shook her head in amusement. Not only did the outfit look like clothes that she had at home, it actually looked like the clothes she was wearing at the moment. The only difference was the fact that Santana had on a long sleeve green and blue button up with rolled sleeves. Samara's was yellow and orange with short sleeves. Rachel was only slightly jealous as she began to search through Sierra's cubicle in an attempt to find Sierra something to match her. It was only fair.

As Rachel searched Santana started to get the girls ready for their baths. Nicky and Stephanie was preoccupied with the babies. Getting two babies into the bath without getting yourself covered in their food was a trip and a half. Santana cheered when she was able to get both girls in the bath without any major clothing disaster's, now she just had to avoid splashing. Rachel came running into the bathroom a moment later proudly holding up a sundress that she had found for Sierra. It didn't exactly match what Rachel was wearing but it was close enough that Rachel was happy.

"Are Stephanie and Nicky still out there?" Santana asked as she rubbed the wash cloth up and down Sierra's back. Samara had made a quick getaway and was sitting at the opposite end of the tub with a pout on her face. She did not want a bath tonight.

"No, they left just a second ago." Rachel said as she walked over and kneeled down next to Santana. "What's wrong pouty?" Rachel asked Samara as she reached into the tub and grabbed the wash cloth that Samara had been playing with but let go. She could tell that Samara had yet to be washed if the food on her chest was any indication.

"She's not that fond of having a bath tonight seems like."

"Well that's okay." Rachel spoke in a slightly higher pitched voice. "We can give Mr. Ducky here a bath instead." Rachel picked up a rubber duck that was floating around in the water and began to wash him with the wash cloth. Samara watched curiously. She wanted to wash the duck too! Samara scooted closer and held her hand out indicating for Rachel to pass over the duck. Rachel did so happily. She was very pleased with herself when Samara switched from rubbing the duck to rubbing her chest with the wash cloth. "Can I help?" Rachel reached out for the wash cloth and began to wash Samara when she handed it over. It was such a simple gesture but to Rachel it meant the world.

"Can you imagine us...at home...with these two doing this?" Santana asked quietly. She had been lost in her thoughts about the idea since Rachel had started interacting with Samara. "Every time I picture our family in the future...I see Sierra and Samara. Maybe I have just became too attached to them or maybe it's because I know how badly they need a family. Stephanie said that no one has ever been able to complete a case plan for them. Something always happens. They're almost fifteen months old and they have been here since they were six months. They deserve a family and I can't see anyone else but us being that family for them. I know we agreed that we weren't ready, but when is anyone ever actually ready?"

"I agree with everything you are saying, but it's only been a week since we decided we weren't ready. Do you think this is all a little fast? However, I do believe all of this means something because, I remember right after you proposed...we were talking about kids and you mentioned twin boys. Obviously Sierra and Samara aren't boys but I really think that eventually these two are meant to come home with us permanently." Rachel was finishing up bathing Samara at this point who was still happily playing with her rubber duck.

"So what are we going to do?" Santana asked a little warily.

"I think we should take the rest of the weekend to think about it, talk to our therapists next week and then go from there. We are the only ones who know how we truly feel but a little outside input can't hurt. There's just two maybe three other problems that go along with all of this." Rachel mused as she picked Samara up out of the tub and wrapped her in her hooded penguin towel.

"What kind of problems?" Santana wondered curiously as she picked up Sierra, wrapping her in her respective towel and followed Rachel out of the bathroom back into the nursery so that they could dress the girls.

"We wanted to be married first, that's still almost three months away. Our schedule's are going to be huge factors in deciding if we get the girls or not and last, but very important. We don't have a bath tub." Santana knew that Rachel was being serious but the bath tub thing really threw her for a loop. She furrowed her brows before she began to laugh out loud.

"If we do this, I promise we will get everything worked out. Quinn can help work your schedule, like she always does when you have something else you need to do. We can get married and still have our big wedding in December and I will even add building you a bathroom with a tub into our vows. We can do this, those aren't problems, those are just little hurdles that we have to get over." Santana finished speaking quietly as she stepped over to Rachel and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. Sierra and Samara who were still being held didn't like being squished and began to squeal. "We should get these two dressed so they can go see everyone too." Santana bounced Sierra on her hip and smiled when she began to clap and laugh. There was no doubt in her mind that hopefully soon these two little girls would be hers and Rachel's. It was impossible to see their life any other way.


	57. Protective Stance

Natasha Cantrell looked at the St. Lawrence Children's home with disgust. Her babies were in that building. She had been so close to getting them back the other morning but the spontaneous breathalyzer they had given her prevented that. She wasn't drunk, she had had only a shot...or two to calm her nerves. By the time she had gotten to the police station and was given another breathalyzer she was under the limit. Now, she was sure there was a pending restraining order and maybe some assault charges that hadn't been filed. This was her last shot to see her babies and she was damn sure going to take it.

Walking up to the doors of the children's home, Natasha noticed a fairly large group of people coming up the sidewalk. They must be here for whatever event was happening. That was her way in. She could blend in long enough to get inside the building and be able to sneak away and find her babies. Natasha bent down to look as if she was tying her shoe before she stood up and casually fell in line behind the group of people. It only took a moment for them to be buzzed in.

* * *

Santana and Rachel carried Sierra and Samara outside to join in the evening festivities. Santana was so excited that each twin matched the person who was carrying them. Quinn was the first to spot them and came over excited. This was the first time that she was meeting the girls and she could tell just how excited Rachel and Santana were. To her, they already looked like a little family.

"Hi guys." Quinn greeted Santana and Rachel.

"Hi Quinn." Rachel replied back as she shifted Sierra on her hip. The little girl was looking around excitedly at all the people there.

"Nice to see you have your waddle down pat." Santana joked.

"Oh hush. I have every right to waddle since it's almost my due date. I'm worried that he is going to try and stay in there longer." Quinn pouted as she rubbed her belly. Being pregnant had its ups and downs, but Quinn was definitely ready for Davis to come out. "So are you going to introduce these two cuties to me, because I have met almost everyone else."

"This is Sierra and that is Samara. Say hi little ones." Rachel prompted the twins. Sierra, ever the more social one reached her hand to Quinn who immediately shook it causing the baby to laugh. Samara was just the opposite, instead of even making eye contact with Quinn, she hid her face in Santana's neck making the woman chuckle.

"Don't be shy smiley girl. It's okay to say hi." Santana rubbed Samara's back trying to get her to at least look at Quinn.

"That's okay. I am sure she will say hi when she is ready. They're both so adorable." Quinn reached out to tickle Sierra who seemed to be eating up the attention.

Suddenly there was a commotion at the double doors that led from the living room area of the building. "You two! Bring me my babies now! I don't know who you think you are, but those are my kids!"

"What the hell?" Santana mumbled under her breath. Instinctively she placed her arm around Samara holding the little girl tighter to her side. "Who is she talking to?"

"Uh San, I think she is talking to us." Rachel mumbled, her eyes wide with fear not for herself but for the baby she was holding.

"Let go of me! Put my kids down now! Sierra, Samara, come to Momma. Come on now! Put them down so they can come to me." Natasha continued to scream as several of the volunteers and Martha attempted to hold her back.

At hearing their names yelled, mixed with the amount of tension floating around, both girls began to cry. Santana looked down in concern at Samara as she slowly began to back up towards the side door. Rachel followed suit as Quinn took a stance in front of the two women. She may be pregnant but there was no way in hell that woman was getting close to Santana and Rachel or the twins.

"Devin, get my handcuffs off my belt. I can't believe you just let a whole group of people in here like that!" Martha now had her hands on Natasha but that was about it. Santana could see Stephanie making her way towards she and Rachel with wide panicked eyes. Chloe and Agetha both had made their way towards Natasha in an effort to try and defuse the situation.

"I'm sorry! We've been letting people in and out all day. I didn't think it was a big deal!" Devin whined, he knew he was in so much trouble.

"A big deal?! There is a reason for that camera at the door buzzer! Everyone shows their IDs if they have them, if not you wait and confirm their name is on a list. If a huge group does come in anyway, you meet them at the door with backup. You should have called me Devin if you felt over whelmed." Martha was fuming, never in her life had she worked with someone who just randomly decided to throw caution to the wind. At least now she had this woman in cuffs so that she couldn't get to those babies. The last time this had happened was the last straw. This woman had been given chance after chance to do right by her babies and she had failed every time. This was definitely going to be the straw that officially broke the camels back.

"Mrs. Cantrell, calm down. You know you aren't allowed to just show up like this." Chloe had her hands up trying to get Natasha's attention but the woman just continued to scream at Sierra and Samara.

"Santana; Rachel. Take the twins inside to the nursery and stay there with them please." Stephanie suggested with pleading eyes when she finally made her way to Santana and Rachel through the crowd. "Please, they're never going to calm down out here and her yelling like that."

Rachel's mind was going a thousand miles per second. Everything was moving so quickly around them. Puck had now made his way over to Quinn. It seemed as if everyone was now crowding around the girls trying to protect them. They could all hear the sirens blaring in the distance as Agetha, Chloe and Martha continued to try and defuse the situation. Rachel finally got a grip on her bearings and was able to open the side door and lead Santana into the building back to the nursery.

* * *

"Holy shit." Santana breathed once she, Rachel, Puck and Quinn had made it inside the nursery. Everyone else had stayed behind either outside or in the hallway just in case something else was to happen.

"Santana, language!" Rachel chastised while rocky Sierra back and forth in her arms. The little girl was crying giant tears with her fist in her mouth. "Shhh, baby girl. You're okay."

"I'm sorry but that was intense. That woman just showed up out of nowhere." Santana was also rocking Samara back and forth in her arms. Neither girl seemed to be that interested in comfort right now. They were scared, it was understandable.

"That Devin dude needs his ass kicked." Puck paced around the room, he wanted to go back out there but he felt like he was needed here. For what reason he wasn't exactly sure, but he just knew he needed to be close to his family.

"You can't go out there and kick his ass. He's the fill in for Martha's partner, a rookie that should know better but apparently doesn't." Santana spoke as she rolled her eyes and made her way over to Samara's bed to grab her stuffed horse and a pacifier. "Here little mama." Santana placed the horse on Samara's chest so that she would grab it while trying to coax the pacifier into her mouth.

"I just...that woman...if she was willing to scream at these babies like that in front of all those people...I can only imagine how she treated them at home." Quinn said as she took a seat at the table. She had been standing on her feet for too long because her back was really starting to hurt.

"That's not fair. We don't know what their home situation was like when they were with her. All we know is that the girls have been here since they were six months old and no one has been able to pass an evaluation or complete a case plan in order to adopt them." Rachel turned her head to look at Quinn as she was handed Sierra's stuffed giraffe and blanket.

"Soooo...are you two planning on being the first ones to complete a case plan and pass an evaluation?" Puck asked with curiosity.

"What makes you think that?" Santana asked as she guided Rachel to one glider chair while she went to retrieve another one that had been found in storage and had been brought down.

"Well, there's the fact that both girls have now stopped crying and they have death grips on both of you like they're afraid you're going to put them down. Also, there's the fact that your first reaction when that woman started yelling was to protect the girls instead of going after her. Plus..you look like a little family already." Puck smirked as he stood behind Quinn rubbing her shoulder. All this tension had definitely tightened up her muscles and she didn't need the stress this late in the pregnancy.

"It's a discussion that we are still having..." Rachel answered before looking over at Santana and smiling at how protectively she was holding Samara. The little girl was laid back in Santana's arm suckling her pacifier, her little socked feet sticking out from underneath the blanket that Santana had grabbed and draped over her. Santana was humming softly and rocking back and forth in the glider. It was like she had tuned out everyone else in the room and the only one at that time that mattered was Samara.

* * *

"I'm so sorry you guys." Stephanie rushed in the room a few minutes later. Puck and Quinn had left to go pick up Beth from a dinner that she had with her soccer team after practice. Nicky and Rich were right behind her with the other babies and toddlers. "I would have been in here sooner, but I knew these two needed to be calmed down so we took the others upstairs to play for a while."

"You don't have to apologize. You had to do what you needed to do. We had these two covered." Santana motioned to herself and Rachel. "We would like an explanation of what happened if you're allowed to give details?" Santana probed, she needed answers and right now Stephanie had those answers.

"Obviously you know that that was Sierra and Samara's mother. That wasn't the first time she has shown up like that. It's been happening more recently since she has been out of jail. She showed up today because after the last time she knew there was a chance she was going back." Stephanie sighed and ran her hand through her hair before plopping down in the rolling chair behind the desk in the corner of the room.

"Is she the incident that happened the first day we volunteered here?" Rachel wondered out loud. She honestly didn't expect much of an answer since that seemed to be super privileged information.

"Yeah. We set up a supervised visit for her to try and deter her away from pulling the same stunt she did today but she showed up drunk." Stephanie shook her head, she was getting really tired of filling out reports about this stuff but it was part of her job considering it involved the twins.

"Why was she not put back in jail for a probation or parole violation?" Santana mused curiously.

"Surprisingly she wasn't out on either. She was the perfect inmate, completed her time, community service and rehabilitation." Stephanie rested her head in the palm of her hand while looking at Santana and Rachel. These two women would be the perfect placement for Sierra and Samara. She wondered if it had ever crossed their minds.

Santana looked down at a still sleeping Samara. She couldn't imagine a life of growing up with parents or a parent who would rather nurse a bottle of alcohol or pills instead of nurturing their child. She raised her arm so that she could place a kiss on Samara's forehead vowing that she was going to do everything in her power to give these girls a better life. Looking over at Rachel, she had a silent conversation with her eyes. There was no way in hell these girls were ever going to be around Natasha again.


	58. Mom?

Santana laid back in the grass in front of the sign she has just finished painting for the new St. Lawrence Children's Home. During the past week, any free time that Santana found she had was spent working on paintings. Now that this sign was done she only had one left to do for Peter and her contract would be complete. The rooms that everyone had been working on at the new place were coming along nicely. In a few days the first floor rooms would be ready to decorate also. Rachel and Marley were beyond excited for that.

After the incident at the cook out at the old home last Saturday when Natasha was removed from the property and taken to the jail, Rachel and Santana had made a call to Tina to get in touch with a family lawyer. The decision had been made and a plan of action had been set into motion. On one hand it was the easiest decision they had ever made and on the other hand, not so much. Both Santana and Rachel had went to emergency therapy sessions and even a couples counseling session, everyone said the same thing. They were in a great place in their relationship and if they waited for the perfect moment to adopt then they could be waiting forever, so why not now?

Santana could still feel her body buzzing with excitement. First things first, she and Rachel had to go ahead and get married. Telling Leroy, Bayani, Shelby and Cassie had not been an easy task, however, once they had explained their reasoning, everyone was on board. After they moved past their initial concerns and questions, they had taken on the task of being grandparents very seriously. Rachel and Shelby had even taken a huge leap in their relationship. Apparently more good than a little had came about from the announcement. Hopefully things stayed on this amazing path throughout the whole ordeal.

* * *

_**Wednesday Evening At Santana and Rachel's Cabin**_

"Santana, are we sure we want to tell them about this? I mean they are putting so much work into a big wedding and we are just going to go to the court house and get married." Rachel paced around the kitchen as Santana was cooking. She was listening, really she was, it was just...Rachel had been worrying about the same thing for hours now. There was plenty of other stuff she could be worrying about.

"Rachel, it's going to be fine. We are still going to have the big wedding, we have to, I mean we didn't pick that cake out today for nothing. We're just doing a part of it early. We're telling them so they can be there. If we had done it my way, we would already be married by now." Santana turned around and tossed the dish towel she had been holding over her shoulder. They had opted to tell the parents here at home instead of a restaurant in case there was any yelling.

"Are you going to call your mom and dad and tell them what we are planning on doing?"

"You mean, tell them about the adoption?" Santana waited for Rachel to shake her head yes or no. Of course Rachel shook her head yes. "Nope."

"Santana...you know that is part of your therapy. You have to at least try and have some form of a relationship with them. Even if it doesn't work out, the trying part is what matters." Rachel had moved so that she was now standing at Santana's side.

"I tried to have a relationship with them. They told me that I would never amount to anything if I went to art school. They were never around when I was a kid, but suddenly they care when I don't want to be a doctor or lawyer. The last time I seen them, we were in the hospital after the car crash. They know I got a phone because Puck told them. Instead of calling me, they call him when they want an update or hell they probably read all that gossip that the magazines write." Santana turned around and angrily opened the oven door to pull out the loaf of bread that she had baking for dinner. She was so over this conversation, if her parents were never around when she was little, why would they suddenly start coming around because of the adoption? Why would they want anything to do with her life now?

"I'm sorry, okay. I just think..maybe they might change. Prove themselves as parents now by being there for you and be great at being grandparents. You never know if you don't give them a chance." Rachel apologized as she walked up behind Santana and wrapped her arms around the woman's waist. Before Santana could respond there was a knock at the front door. Rachel stepped back and took a deep breath. "Show time."

* * *

Forks and knives clattered against plates as everyone sat around the dinner table eating. Conversation had been light most of the evening, talking about all the cakes that Rachel and Santana had tried earlier in the day. Both women were bundles of nerves, if they didn't do this soon they were definitely going to chicken out. Rachel took a sip of her wine before clearing her throat. She looked to Santana, silently conveying that this was the best time since everyone was almost done eating.

"We...Santana and I, have something that we would like to talk to you guys about." Rachel started the conversation by looking around the table at everyone.

"What's going on?" Leroy asked as he wiped his mouth on his napkin.

"Whatever it is, you can tell us." Shelby had a feeling in her gut that something was going on, but she couldn't pin point exactly what it was.

"Well...we want to go ahead and get married." Rachel said as she reached over and grabbed Santana's hand in support.

"What do you mean? We've just now started to order everything. Nothing is actually ready yet. You only just picked out your cake." Shelby was starting to panic a little. This was not what she thought Santana and Rachel wanted to talk about.

"We still want the big wedding in December, we just want to go ahead and get married. You have no idea how much we appreciate everything you are doing and have done. But, we have a reason for doing this. We swear." Santana was trying to calm the situation before anyone got truly upset.

Santana looked to Rachel who nodded her head before looking at Leroy, Shelby and Cassie. They all were sat on the edge of their seats waiting for the reason. "We are trying to get everything together so we can adopt Sierra and Samara. While it's not impossible to adopt as girlfriend and girlfriend, being married looks better on the application."

"Are you sure you're ready for something like this?"

"That's a big decision."

"Is this something you really want?"

"Who is your lawyer? Are they any good?

"Have they done other adoptions before, because you don't want some newbie handling such a high profile case."

The questions began coming one after another. Rachel and Santana wasn't being given any chance to answer anything."Hold on!" Santana yelled as she stood up from her chair. "Now, I know this is a giant bomb that we just dropped on you guys. We will answer your questions one at a time. However, you have to listen to us first. Yes, it is a big decision and we have talked about it in length with each other and our therapists. We will even be talking about it more at some adoption support groups that the agency requests you go to. There is no doubt that we are ready to do this and of course it's something we really want. If we didn't we wouldn't even be here at the moment talking about it."

All of the parents shared looks with each other. Yes, they had just been properly chastised for jumping to conclusions and assuming that Rachel and Santana couldn't handle something like this. "I think we can all agree that if you are set on doing this, then all we can do is offer the utmost support. We just worry because you all are doing this so quickly. I mean, how much do you know about the twins situation? Are they even up for adoption?"

"The twins are in fact up for adoption. Their mother was allowed to visit them when she got out of jail because they were listed for an open adoption. It's been changed to a closed adoption for their safety." Rachel replied to Shelby who seemed to be the most vocal at the moment. "We realize it's a bit fast, but we have been volunteering at the home for a couple of weeks now and those little girls are like our own already. This past week I have spent more time getting to know them when we are there and I can't imagine them not being ours anymore. Santana has had a connection with them since the first day they met."

"So...I'm going to be a grandpa? Two little beautiful grand babies! Oh, Bayani will be so excited. He hated he couldn't come tonight. I swear he should just be listed as co-owner of that damn lodge. I'm going to call him right now." Leroy jumped up from his chair and headed towards the living room to retrieve his phone out of his jacket pocket.

"What happens now? Like, how does all of this work?" Cassie asked. All she knew about adoption was everything that she knew about Shelby being a surrogate. This was a different situation entirely.

"Well, Tina got us in touch with a family lawyer that actually has worked with the main agency that oversee's adoptions for The St. Lawrence Children's Home. Her name is Mercedes Jones and she is waiting on a call back from Sierra and Samara's social worker. After our paperwork is approved, which they still haven't sent yet, but they're working on it, the agency will send a case manager out with the twins social worker for a home study. Get to know us, our intentions, take a tour of the cabin and just make sure that the twins will be in the best place possible. Normally after the home study is when you visit the children and basically pick one, but we already know who we want." Santana explained as she began to clear the table. She could see Leroy talking excitedly, waving his arms around.

"So, there's a chance that the adoption could move quicker than a couple just starting out from scratch? I mean you guys already have your foot in the door with the volunteering at the home." Cassie looked over to Shelby who honestly looked like she may cry at any moment. Without saying anything, Cassie reached over and placed her hand on Shelby's back and began to rub circles on her shoulder blades.

"Pretty much. We want to get married soon so we don't have to update our paper work later and draw out the process even more. Normally there's several families; more or less in competition for a child or children, but the home itself requires case plans for a family to even look at their children." Santana continued to answer Cassie's question while Rachel watched her mother. She had been vocal but now she wasn't saying much. Maybe she was thinking about the time she gave Rachel up for adoption. If anyone could have even a little bit of perspective from the birth mother's side of things, it was definitely Shelby, even if she willingly gave up her child. Rachel just wanted her to say something, anything else. It was possible that Shelby was just filled with questions she wasn't sure how to ask.

"Mom? Do you have any more questions?" Rachel asked, not even realizing what she said. Leroy abruptly stopped talking and walked back into the kitchen with a shocked look on his face. You could hear a pin drop in the room. Rachel looked around confused for a moment, thinking about what she had said. Oh..she had just called Shelby Mom for the first time again in years.

* * *

**Note that this is still the flash back. We return to the present next chapter.**


	59. Guess Who's Coming

It had been ten minutes of silence. No one was willing to even breathe loudly at this point. Shelby still sat stunned while Rachel was trying to figure out what to say? What do you say when you call your estranged mother mom again after years of her not being around. Oops, sorry? No, that's just incredibly rude. Or, how about, I didn't mean that. That's also incredibly rude to say.

"I..uh..yeah." Rachel muttered trying to find some traction in her vocabulary.

Suddenly Shelby burst out laughing, or maybe she was crying. "You called me mom. You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear that word again."

Rachel blew out a long slow breath. "Well, you are my mom. I know we're working things out still, but that doesn't change the fact that you're always going to be my mom." Rachel gave a tearful smile as Shelby stood up and walked around the table in order to give her a hug. Leroy stood in the kitchen doorway with his hand over his heart. Despite their past, he was grateful that Rachel had given Shelby another chance.

Santana stood by the sink with her arms folded over her chest. She wasn't jealous of Rachel, she was..envious. Rachel had four parents so to speak who wanted to be in her life and support her. Santana had only ever had one and he was a grandfather, but he wasn't here anymore. With a sigh Santana turned around to put the dishes into the sink of dishwater that she had ran. Maybe...maybe she would call her parents if for nothing more than to just talk. If Rachel was mentioned then she would tell them about the wedding. It's possible this was going to be a big mistake. She didn't need her parents trying to talk her out of a wedding or adopting Sierra and Samara. Maybe Rachel was right, maybe they could change and be amazing grand parents. Leroy was already bouncing off the walls, Shelby and Cassie were now discussing grandma names and who got to be who. Rachel was going right along with them, Santana smiled. This was her family now and if her parents still didn't want to come around, she would be okay. These people, along with Sierra, Samara and all her friends was all she needed.

* * *

**Present Day - Saturday**

"Santana! Are you okay? I was yelling your name and you wouldn't answer me." Rachel ran over breathlessly. Santana sat up and looked around, the warm sunshine must have caused her to doze off. Days like this would become far and few in the next couple of weeks as Summer had officially began to come to a close.

"I'm fine. I was taking a sun nap." Santana looked up at Rachel as she shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand. Rachel was bent over resting her hands on her knees. She was breathing hard from running across the field. "Are you guys done inside for the day?"

"Just about. We're starting to put the paint supplies up and I noticed none of your stuff was in the shed so I got worried and came looking for you." Rachel sat down beside Santana and leaned back on her hands looking up at the sign. "I don't think I tell you enough how truly talented you are babe. This sign is amazing, I'm glad Peter let you keep most of your original design work after Agetha scolded him."

"Me too. I mean I understand he is paying for it, but I was hired for my art work. Don't give me free reign of an idea and then change it all around like he was trying to do. I knew the basics of what they wanted and the rest was up to me. I'm happy with it." Santana nodded her head in appreciation at her work. This sign had been the source of many arguments between she and Peter the past few weeks. He wanted something of high end sophistication and and all fancy writing. Santana wanted something that represented the children and everything that the children's home stood for. In the end, Peter got his fancy writing while Santana got her open door way with bright colorful lights with shadowed children waiting to go through it. It's said each person interprets art in their own way, to some the sign probably looked like the children where about to walk into some kind of colorful wonderland, to Santana it was the children walking into a brighter future.

"Well, either way. It looks awesome. Are you ready to head home or do you want to go back inside for a while and visit with everyone?" Rachel asked as she stood up and dusted her hands of any grass.

"I wouldn't mind visiting everyone for a while. I just need to drape this so it can dry and it stays hidden for the unveiling. You can go on without me, I will only be a few minutes." Santana pushed herself up from the ground to give Rachel a kiss before she wandered off to go hang out for a while with everyone. Slowly Santana began to gather her things and put a tarp over the sign, it had to stay covered until the children officially moved in. No one liked a ruined surprise.

* * *

Santana walked into the cafeteria a few moments later where everyone was already seated and chatting among themselves. She spotted Rachel talking in hushed whispers with Tina as the Asian woman handed Rachel a manila folder. That's odd, Santana thought to herself as she looked around, even some of the construction crew was hanging out. Over the past week some of the guys had became good buddies when the crew was short handed, it was truly a team effort to get this all done.

Deciding that whatever Rachel and Tina was talking about could wait, Santana made her way over to Puck and Quinn. She smiled, it wouldn't be long before Quinn went into labor. The woman was looking down right miserable. "What's up Lopez?" Puck asked before he took a long drink from his water bottle.

"Nothing. It looks good in here. I didn't think these tables were here yet." Santana knocked her knuckles against the hard oak of the table she was sitting at. These tables were beautiful. They weren't your conventional looking cafeteria tables. These tables had more of a summer camp feel to them. They were large oak wood with matching benches, in most cases clean cut wood was used, but no, not with these. You could see the natural grain of the wood, perfectly sealed so that they would last for a very long time.

"I didn't either, but when my guys get called on, they work fast. Plus, some of these tables are orders that people changed their mind on last minute, so there were a few left in storage." Puck grinned.

"I'm surprised they didn't charge you more than what they did." Santana bantered with Puck.

"Pffftt. I saved that business from completely going under when your Abeulo' got the me the job. Have I ever told you that story Quinn?" Puck turned to look at Quinn who was looking even more miserable than she had a few minutes ago. "Are you okay babe?" Puck asked worriedly.

"Yeah." Quinn replied through clenched teeth. "Just, Davis is kicking up a storm today. It feels like he is trying to escape out of my back."

"Do we need to go to the hospital? Are you going into labor?!" Puck jumped up, almost falling over the bench that he was setting on next to Quinn. Maybe they should have opted for the tables with the chairs. These benches were kind of dangerous.

"NO! I don't know. My water hasn't broke yet and I'm not having contractions. My back is just hurting so bad." At this point Quinn was nearly in tears.

"We're not taking any chances, we're going to the hospital. Santana will you grab Beth and follow us?" Puck was becoming increasingly pale. Santana wondered if he was going to make it through this child birth without passing out, if in fact Quinn was actually in labor.

"Yeah, yeah. Just go. We will meet you at the hospital. Rachel! We have to go." Rachel turned around startled at her name being called. She took a moment to study the scene that was unfolding before her. Puck was leading Quinn out of the cafeteria while Santana was bouncing around and waving her arms in the air.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked after she had excused herself from Tina and stepped in front of Santana.

"We have to go get Beth and then go to the hospital. Quinn is in horrible pain and Puck thinks she might be going into labor." Santana spoke quickly and frantically. This was all so exciting and nerve wracking. She had been there for the birth of Beth and she wasn't going to miss Davis coming into the world.

"Okay. Let's go." Rachel grabbed Santana's hand and quickly followed the same path that Quinn and Puck had taken. Before they could completely get out of the doors Santana turned around and announced to the whole room, "We're sorry for leaving so quickly, but Quinn may have the baby tonight! We'll send a chain email if she does." Santana cackled as Rachel gave her arm a tug before the cafeteria erupted into cheers. Yep, one big happy supportive family is what they were.

* * *

"Aunt San,' we don't have the mural in Davis' room done. Do you think we will have enough time to finish it?" Beth said worriedly as she look out the window of Santana's jeep. Santana and Rachel had rushed from the campus to Beth's school in order to pick her up from soccer practice.

"I know babe. But yes we have time, there's not much left to do and his nursery is already finished, we just have to move his crib when the wall dries after we're done. It's okay. Don't worry about that right now. Right now, all you have to be is excited to meet your brother." Santana replied. With everything going on, she had been working on the mural sporadically. Thankfully it was honestly almost done.

Santana had honestly been surprised at the turn around that Beth had made. She had truly stepped up and embraced the big sister role, even though Davis wasn't here yet. Quinn had made good on her promise to spend more time with Beth and to let her help pick out stuff for Davis. The changes that Puck had implemented at the studio had helped matters ten fold at home also. Now Beth's face contained honest and genuine excitement instead of the clear as day resentment she had worn before.

Rachel just smiled and continued holding Santana's hand like she had been doing since they got in the jeep. She looked down when her phone chimed. It was a message from Puck. "Puck says that Quinn is definitely in labor."

"What? How does he know that?" Santana glanced over at Rachel.

"Her water broke as soon as they walked into the emergency room." Rachel laughed before laying the phone down back into the center console.

"I wonder if she has started to dilate yet?" Santana made the mistake of wondering out loud. Rachel shrugged her shoulders, Puck hadn't said anything about that yet.

"What does dilate mean exactly?" Beth wondered from the back seat.

Santana's face slowly began to pale. She didn't want to have to explain this to her eleven year old niece. Wasn't she supposed to know this stuff already? "Uh..well..it's when.." Santana cleared her throat.."it's when.." She looked to Rachel for help, silently pleading with the woman who looked like she was going to bust out laughing at any moment. Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Beth, you know where babies come from right?" Rachel asked as she turned around in her seat to look at the little girl in the back seat.

Beth nodded her head. She hadn't had sex ed yet, that was coming in her health class that she was in this year, but she knew where babies came from. Her mom and dad didn't want her to be blindsided by the stuff that she was going to learn in school. "Okay so, in order for Davis to come out...there's a hole that has to get bigger and dilation means that hole is expanding. When that hole is ten centimeters, Davis will get to come out." Rachel was trying her best to explain this so that Beth could really understand it. The child was eleven, she probably didn't need to know such vagueness, but Rachel had never had to explain something like this to anyone.

"How big is that?" Beth scrunched up her nose cutely.

"About the size of one of your soft balls kid." Santana looked into her rear view mirror in order to see Beth. Her eyes widened comically.

"Oh..that's not very big. I don't want to know anymore." Beth done a little shimmy as she resumed her window watching. Davis was supposed to be a big baby. "That's going to be painful for mom." Beth mumbled to herself, not knowing that she had said it loud enough for Santana and Rachel to hear.

"We can only imagine the true pain she will be in." Santana grimaced as she glanced over at Rachel who had the same pained look on her face.

* * *

**I'm going to be honest, I've never written an 11 year old before. I'm trying to find a balance of keeping her young but not too young and not a hormonal soon to be teenager. Just, please hang in there with me. Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.**

**Also, I know this is late. We had some bad weather yesterday that caused my internet to go down. It didn't come back up until after I was already in bed.**


	60. Welcome Baby Puckerman

Santana pulled into the parking lot of the St. Lawrence hospital. She actually had no idea where she was going since Puck hadn't let them know yet if Quinn was in a room. Hopping out of the jeep, Santana waited on the sidewalk for Beth and Rachel to catch up to her. Why weren't they moving faster? You would think with a little brother about to make his grand entrance that Beth would pick up the pace.

"Why are you two so slow?" Santana asked as she started walking again.

"Why are you practically running?" Rachel asked exasperated.

"Aunt San, my legs are shorter than yours. Plus, I've been at soccer practice all day!" Beth exclaimed.

Santana chuckled as the three made their way through the emergency room doors. From their vantage point they couldn't really see any of the beds. The nurses station. Start at the nurses station.

"We're looking for a Quinn Fabray. In labor, came in about twenty minutes ago roughly." Santana was practically leaning over the desk trying to get the nurses attention who seemed to be more interested in the phone she was chatting on. "I hate hospitals so much." Santana mumbled to herself as she looked around.

"Over there! Daddy!" Beth yelled as she ran over to Puck who had just came through a set of double brown doors.

"Hey my soccer star." Puck grinned as he picked Beth up and hugged her to him tightly. Yes, his daughter was eleven but the fact that she was small for her age and actually still let him pick her up was the best thing ever. "Listen, they put Mom in the hospital so I need you to stay with Aunt San and Aunt Rachel tonight. I know you want to be here, but you have school on Monday and homework to finish tomorrow. Besides, I don't think Davis is coming tonight anyway." Puck hoped that Beth went along with this. Very seldom did she stay away from both of her parents, at least being with Santana and Rachel would make it easier. She could distract herself with the dogs.

"So they put her in? Has she dilated any?" Rachel asked as she and Santana walked up. Well, Rachel was practically dragging Santana since she was ready to go a few rounds with the prissy nurse.

"She's dilated three, but her contractions are coming at a snails pace. They're going to monitor her and Davis but it's already getting late, so there's no need to stay here all night." Puck explained as Beth wrapped herself around his arm since he sat her down onto her feet.

"Can we see her?" Santana finally focused on what was happening instead of making evil faces at the nurse.

"Yeah, come on. Visiting hours are almost over, they will probably run you out of the room soon." Puck chuckled as he led Santana, Rachel and Beth towards Quinn's room.

"Daddy, I know I have to stay with Aunt San and Aunt Rachel, but we have to finish Davis' room before he and Mom come home." Beth told her father, in a matter of fact tone.

"Shioot, that's right. Uh, you have your house keys in your duffle bag right?" Puck asked as she looked down at Beth who nodded. "Okay, well tomorrow you and San and Rach can go home and work on it. You have to get your homework and clean practice gear. I want a promise though that you will finish that homework first?" Once again Beth nodded. "Okay, go see your mom." Puck pushed open the door of Quinn's room.

Quinn was laying in her bed, already dressed in a hospital gown, smiling and munching on ice chips. Damn, they move fast around here. Santana mused to herself. "Hi guys." Quinn spoke before giving Beth a hug when she climbed up on the bed.

"Mom are you dilated anymore yet?" Beth asked with her big expressive blue eyes. Puck and Quinn whipped their heads around to stare at Rachel and Santana. What had they been telling their daughter?

"Hey, don't look at us. You, Puck, were talking about it downstairs too." Santana shook her finger in Pucks face. "She knows what it means anyway." Santana shrugged her shoulders before walking farther into the room and sitting down in a chair in the corner of the room.

"How does she know what it means exactly? We hadn't told her about that part yet." Quinn's face was getting redder and redder. Her daughter didn't need to know the majority of this stuff at least not until she was way into her twenties, maybe thirties.

"She's eleven! She knows more than she tells you. Besides, Rachel told her." Santana refused to look at her fiance', she didn't want to see the look on her face.

"Way to just throw me under the bus there Santana!" Rachel shouted before she pushed Santana in the shoulder sending her almost falling over the side of the chair she was sitting in. Santana couldn't do anything but laugh, especially with the looks on everyone's faces.

* * *

Santana groaned as her phone chimed alerting her to a new text message. It had been a short visit at the hospital last night because the nurses did in fact come and run them out of Quinn's room. Santana quickly grabbed her phone off her night stand, just in case it was Puck letting them know that Davis had finally made it into the world. _Still dilated at seven. Will let you know more when I know more._ Santana flopped her head back down onto her pillow, before laying her phone back on the night stand. She could hear Rachel and Beth downstairs giggling, there was no telling what those two were getting into. Santana sighed before deciding that she might as well get up so that they could go to Puck's and work on Davis' room. It was bound to be a long day.

As Santana trudged down the stairs in her joggers and long sleeve thermal, she took in the mess that was her kitchen as it came into view. She paused, not sure if she was seeing things or if that really was flour on her ceiling?!"What...what have you two done?" Santana asked with wide eyes. Beth and Rachel were covered head to toe in what she assumed was pancake batter.

"Making pancakes! Here Aunt San." Beth jumped down from where she was standing beside Rachel and ran over with a plate in her hand stacked with four pancakes. "Eat these, fast. We have to go to my house soon."

"We're not going anywhere until I can see my kitchen floor again." Santana grumbled as she sat down at the island and reached for the syrup. At least the pancakes that had made it on to a plate looked good.

"San...it's not our fault that the mixer...got away from us. Listen you eat, Beth once you finish, go hop in the shower and I will clean the kitchen while you two go paint. By the time you finish, Davis should be here and I will be done with the kitchen okay?"

Santana nodded her head as she lifted her fork to take a bite when she noticed the manila folder that Tina had given Rachel yesterday laying on the bill table next to the hallway entrance on the other side of the kitchen. When had that been put there? After leaving the hospital they had stopped to grab food before heading back to the cabin. Santana doesn't remember seeing Rachel lay the folder there last night.

"Rachel, what is that folder there? Tina gave that to you last night. I had completely forgot about it since Quinn went into labor." Santana pointed at the folder with her fork.

"That's our paper work that we need to fill out for the agency. Mercedes was going to bring it to us personally, but she had an out of town emergency so she sent it with Tina." Rachel smiled at Santana. They were one step closer to getting this adoption on the road.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this last night? We could have filled most of it out already!"

"When would we have had time to fill it out last night? Everything got crazy, it's okay. We have plenty of time because we can't do anything with it until Mercedes' comes back. Plus, we can't finish it until we have a copy of our marriage license in there. I was looking through it, I swear they want to know everything except our underwear sizes. We need birth certificates, social security cards, driver's license, there's a whole list of stuff. One thing at a time. Right now, we need to finish eating and get today started. We can work on all of that paper work tonight when we get home." Rachel walked around the island and gave Santana a kiss on the cheek. Beth giggled from her bar stool. Her aunt's were silly sometimes.

* * *

Santana and Beth stepped back and looked at their work. It looked really good in here. The main walls of Davis' nursery were a mint green color, the wall to the left of the doorway is where his mural was. The picture honestly hadn't been Santana's idea. It was actually all Beth's who had taken so much pride into picking the perfect picture for Davis. She had done good, deciding that he would enjoy the large lion that lingered in the back ground of the mural. Yes, Beth had chosen an African safari snap shot. Santana kind of wished that this was something she could have saved for Sierra since she loved giraffe's but she could always do something different, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"As soon as that's dry we can move Davis' crib and changing table back." Santana wiped her hands on her bandanna that she had hanging out of the front of her overalls. Santana furrowed her eye brows as she heard a frantic car horn beeping over and over. "Who in the world...?"

Rachel was sitting in the drive way pushing the horn with all her might. "It's time! Let's go. Puck said she was dilated nine and they expect her to be at ten and pushing in about an hour. Grab their hospital bag by the door on your way out." Santana's eyes widened as she ran back into the house to grab Beth and the bag. They were both dressed in overalls and covered in paint. It was obvious now that they should have showered earlier instead of pushing it to get the mural done today. Too late. They had to go. Santana locked the front door of Pucks cabin and waited to hear the beep of the security system before she bolted towards her jeep. She imagined that she was a long distance runner, laughing as she slipped in some gravel and almost dropped the hospital bag. She had said it this morning, today was going to be a long day.

* * *

The drive to the hospital seemed to last forever, when reality Rachel was really breaking the speed limit. It was exhilarating. Rachel wasn't sure she had ever really driven this fast before. Santana had got into her _emergency_ _things_ _I_ _might need bag_ and dug around until she found some wet wipes for her and Beth. If they couldn't change clothes the least they could do was try and get the paint off their faces and hands.

"Aunt San, will Davis be here by the time we make it to the room?" Beth wondered as they entered the hospital and headed towards the elevators so that they could get to the baby floor.

"Uhh, he might be. But that's okay if he is. That just means we get to see him after he's all clean." Santana scrunched up her nose. "You don't want to see him all gross looking?"

"No." Beth scrunched her nose in such a way that Rachel swears she picked up from Santana. She chuckled to herself. She could only imagine the mannerisms that Sierra and Samara would pick up from Santana. Rachel's smile slowly faded, she missed the twins. Hopefully everything would work out and she would get some free time in order to go see them in the next couple of days.

When they finally reached Quinn's door, it was propped open. Santana lead the three of them towards the door and peaked her head inside. She couldn't stop the noise that spilled from her mouth. Quinn was sitting up in bed, smiling tearfully as she studied the little bundle in her arms. Puck was sitting on the edge of the bed, just watching both of them in wonderment. He finally had a son to complete his family. To go from having nothing to now having everything, his life couldn't get any better.

"Come in." Quinn said quietly when she noticed Santana standing in the doorway. Puck turned around to look at who was there. He was beaming from ear to ear. "Everyone, meet Davis Noah Puckerman." Quinn turned the baby in her arms so that Santana and Rachel could get a good look at him. Beth was hesitant to get close, sticking right to her fathers side. She was excited to meet Davis, but she couldn't contain her nerves from finally seeing him. This was it, all the changes that her parents had talked about was finally about to happen.

"He's beautiful." Rachel whispered, she couldn't get over the little tuft of dark brown hair on his head. Was it possible to make a baby come out with a mo-hawk like that?

"Good job Puck. Rachel and I's god son slash nephew doesn't look like a lizard." Santana clapped Puck on the back, causing Quinn to scowl and open her mouth to retort, while everyone else laughed.


	61. Moving Forward

"So what happened? When you sent that text she was only dilated nine." Santana asked as she and Puck stood in the hallway talking. Rachel and Beth were in the room with Quinn cooing over Davis. The nurses had just brought him back in smelling good and dressed the nine's in a green gown.

"I don't know honestly. It's all such a blur now. One minute she was nine and the next she was ten and they were telling her to push. He came out so fast. They're really quick here too, her room was cleaned up just a few minutes before you all got here." Puck took a breath and leaned against the wall while propping his foot up. The fatigue that he had been fighting since last night was finally kicking in. It was impossible to sleep though, he was just way too excited. "I just can't believe he is here. I look at Beth and then I look at him and I can't believe that Quinn and I made them. They're perfect. I had accepted a long time ago that I would never have any of this, but look at me, look at us San."

"I know." Santana nodded her head as she crossed her arms over her chest. Yes, Puck was like her brother but they tried to keep the emotional moments to a minimum. This was one of those moments that they just couldn't avoid. Separately all their lives they had been perceived as the under dogs, but if they stuck together they knew they could move mountains. "We have amazing career's, the loves of our lives, and beautiful children. Well you have the children, Rachel and I are working on ours." Santana chuckled as she wiped her eyes free of the tears that were slowly falling.

"Wait what? You guys are definitely going to try and adopt the twins?" Puck asked shocked. He was amazed when Santana nodded her head. "You're going to be an amazing mom San. You're already an amazing god mother. Do you remember that episode of Friends where Chandler and Monica are trying to adopt that baby and Joey sends in a reference letter?" Puck looked up at the white ceiling of the hallway.

"Yeah." Santana responded with her brow furrowed. "What about it?"

"Well, I don't know if that's actually a real thing or not with adoption agencies, but if it is. I would write you and Rachel a killer reference letter." Puck gave Santana his copyright original smirk.

Santana laughed and tilted her head against the wall. She honestly didn't know if it was a real thing or not but she would definitely find out. "Thanks Puck. Let's go see your boy before he gets hungry and we have to leave so Quinn can pop her boob out for him." The two quickly hugged and then looked around to make sure that no one had seen them before they joined Quinn, Beth and Rachel back in the hospital room.

* * *

Santana, Rachel and Beth made their way back into the cabin. Beth was spending the next two nights with them since it was anticipated that Quinn would get come home Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. They had spent the entire day at the hospital, only leaving once the nurses had kicked them out of the room when visiting hours were over. Santana took the take out food bags into the kitchen and sat them down on the island. She had anticipated coming home to cook dinner, but by the time they left the hospital she just wasn't feeling it and Beth had asked for sushi anyway. Santana was proud of the developed palate that Beth seemed to have.

"Beth, wash your hands please. You can play with Dax and Dahlia after you eat." Santana called to the little blonde who was sitting in the living room floor letting Dax snuff her face while Dahlia tugged on her pants leg.

"'Kay Aunt San." Beth replied as she jumped up and ran into the bathroom to do what her aunt had asked of her.

Rachel walked over to Santana and began to help her unload the sushi. They had gotten more than enough food. "I was thinking that after Beth goes to sleep we can start on our paper work for Mercedes. We'll call her office in the morning to see if she is back yet."

Santana nodded her head as she bit into a spicy California roll. "That sounds like a good idea. Have we decided when we are going to the court house?"

"We can pick a date for this week sometime. Let everyone know because even if it is just in the office, they will want to come." Rachel popped open a carry out tray of smoked salmon rolls and began to sit a few onto her plate. She sat out a plate for Beth as the little girl came bounding back into the kitchen and climbed up onto a stool.

"Aunt San, when you and Aunt Rachel adopt Sierra and Samara, they'll be my cousins right?" Beth asked as she started picking out what sushi she wanted to eat.

"How did you know about that?" Santana asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I hear things." Beth replied deviously. She had actually been there when her aunts were talking about an agency. But, at that moment it didn't occur to her what they meant until she heard her aunt and dad talking in the hallway at the hospital.

"That wasn't cryptic at all. But anyway, yep. They'll be your cousins just like if Aunt Rachel or I had them from our tummies." Santana brought her plate around the island to sit next to Beth who just nodded and continued to eat.

Beth slowly chewed her sushi roll. She had been doing a lot of thinking after meeting Davis and getting to hold him today. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad having a little brother. Some of the girls on her soccer team had little brothers and they always talked about how they were annoying and loud. Davis didn't seem to be really loud, unless he started crying. She could do this, she would prove to those girls that not all little brothers were annoying. In reality she had no idea what she was in for.

* * *

After saying goodnight to Beth and letting the dogs back in, Santana made her way upstairs to see what Rachel was doing. She was tired to say the least, her legs felt heavy as she drug her feet up the stairs. It had been a long week and an even longer weekend. Now it was time to do it all over again. There was a small sliver of light at the end of the tunnel however. By the end of this coming week, her contract with Peter should officially be complete, one thing that she was more than happy to check off her list of things to do.

Crossing the loft floor, Santana crawled into bed beside Rachel, careful not to disturb all the papers that she had scattered around her. "What's all of this?" Santana asked as she picked up one of the papers and began to read it.

"It's our stuff from the adoption agency. They want to know everything from our current earnings, last years earnings, family medical history, our medical history. There was even a pamphlet on gene mapping if a family medical history isn't available." Rachel held up the purple pamphlet creatively entitled _What_ _Makes_ _You_, _You_. "It's all so crazy."

"Well, they just want to make sure that we have the means to provide for the girls and that we aren't going to get sick or something as soon as we get them." Santana rested on her elbow as she reached up with her other hand to take the pamphlet from Rachel and get a better look at it.

"This is just the stuff from the agency, I can only imagine what the case plan from the children's home is going to look like." Rachel flopped backwards dramatically on the bed. Santana's eyes drifted from the top of the pamphlet to the sliver of skin that was now exposed between the hem of Rachel's camisole and the top of her sleep shorts. Rachel rubbed at her eyes tiredly before turning her head to look at Santana. "What are you looking at?" Rachel asked with an arched brow.

Santana smiled innocently as she slowly let her eyes drift up Rachel's body. "You. You're so beautiful, you know that?"

Rachel blushed and turned her head to look the other way. Every time Santana looked at her the way she was looking now, Rachel could feel her body heat up like a wild fire. Santana slowly scooted closer to Rachel's side and started nuzzling the woman's neck. "Do you know how hard it is for me to keep my hands to myself sometimes?" Santana whispered as she slowly danced her fingers across Rachel's abdomen.

"You're going to have to keep them to yourself tonight. Beth is right downstairs." Rachel spoke quietly. She turned her head to face Santana causing their noses to brush.

"What are we going to do when the twins are here? Are we never going to have sex again?!" Santana raised up to look at Rachel alarmingly.

Rachel really tried to not bust out laughing for fear of waking Beth, but the look on Santana's face was too good. "Of course we will, but honestly you may have to say goodbye to the loft. We need a closed door with children in the house."

Suddenly Santana's face went from alarmingly to serious sadness. "What if we are getting ahead of ourselves? We haven't even finished our paper work, we don't know all the details of the case plan, what if they refuse our adoption?"

"Honey calm down." Rachel sat up in bed and pulled Santana towards her so that the woman was almost in her lap. "I'm not going to lie, obviously we don't know what's going to happen, but the odds are in our favor. We already know Sierra and Samara, they're comfortable with us, they respond to us. You have made a lovely home and I am sure you are going to draw up some beautiful designs to decorate rooms for them, or one room for now. Plus, I was adopted, it may not seem like a factor but it actually could be. It may take a while, but I have a very good feeling this is all going to work out."

"We have to adopt them Rachel. They're already ours in my mind." Santana snuggled closer to Rachel before leaning forward to gather up some of the papers that they still needed to fill out.

"I know. It's the same for me." Rachel turned her head to capture Santana's lips in a kiss. The heat that had been reduced to a simmer was slowly building back up between the women. Keeping her lips connected with Rachel's, Santana started to shuffle papers out of her way so she wouldn't wrinkle them as she straddled Rachel's lap. Gently cupping Rachel's face, Santana made a valiant effort to not break the kiss. She knew she would have to come up for air soon. Rachel rested her hands on Santana's thighs before sliding her hands back to let them rest on Santana's butt, the firm squeeze she gave Santana broke both women out of their trance that they seemed to be getting lost in.

Wrapping her arms around Rachel's neck, Santana rested her forehead against Rachel's. Their chests rising and falling rapidly. "Right, kid downstairs." Santana husked out. "I'm definitely building us a bedroom. With a locking door. We can turn the loft into a play room and reading area."

Rachel chuckled as she fell backwards on the bed, taking Santana with her. "Don't forget my bathroom."

"You already know I will build you anything you want." Santana settled on top of Rachel, she was comfy. If they could just lay still for a minute, she would definitely fall asleep.

"Hey, don't go to sleep yet, we need to put these papers away. We can finish them tomorrow." Rachel poked Santana in the sides. She rolled her eyes when all she received as an answer was a soft snore. How in the world could anyone fall asleep that fast?! It was truly a mystery.


	62. You're Invited

_Great news; Ronald, Charles, and Jasper go to court for their plea deals this morning. Reduced prison sentences of ten years for Ronald and Jasper, Charles' sentence is fifteen and all together they have to pay about nine million in fines and paybacks._

Santana stared at the text in a little bit of shock, it was certainly something interesting to wake up to. It felt like all the bad things in she and Rachel's lives were finally coming to a close. To know that all of this would hopefully be over in time for the adoption was wonderful. However, there was the chance that the social worker would bring all of this up. This could really dampen their chances of getting the girls. Knowing Sue, Santana knew that the woman would do everything she could to keep this out of the media to best of her ability. The only problem was that some of it was bound to slip through since Charles Porter was one of the most known lawyers in the city.

"What's with that look on your face?" Rachel asked as she climbed into the jeep. They were currently in downtown St. Lawrence running some errands for Quinn and Puck before heading to the hospital. Beth was sitting in the back seat with her ear phones in, jamming to something that Santana could only hear as muffled noise. This morning they had called Mercedes office only to be told that she was still out of town but that she was expected back by the end of the week at the latest. That actually worked out perfectly since Rachel and Santana had decided to get married Friday. They could get married and turn their paperwork in next Monday. Even if that was currently at a stand still, they could still go ahead with a case plan from the children's home.

"Sue texted me about Charles, Ronald and Jasper. They're going to court this morning with their plea deals." Santana passed her phone over to Rachel so that she could read the message for herself.

"Why is Jasper's the same as Ronald's? I mean he tried to kill several people that night at the lodge." Rachel asked confused. Jasper's lawyer must be out of his mind if he thinks he is going to by pass something like attempted murder charges.

"I don't know. I'm sure the judge will reject his if he isn't happy with it. Sue will let us know more when she finds out." Santana shrugged her shoulders. No, she wasn't brushing off the shooting, she just didn't have any answers for Rachel. She only knew what Sue had said in her message. Hopefully the justice system wasn't as messed up as it seemed. Who was she kidding? Of course it was messed up.

* * *

After finishing up the errands for Quinn and Puck; Santana, Rachel and Beth found themselves in Quinn's room fawning over Davis. The little boy was oblivious to all the attention he was getting. Eating and sleeping were his main priorities at the moment. The little boy must have been getting hungry as he worked his lips as if he was searching for something to suck on.

"Mom, he's about to cry." Beth exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Bring him to me, it's time for his feeding. I think everyone could use some food, I know you all came straight here after work and picking up Beth from soccer practice." Quinn held out her arms so that Santana could transfer Davis over to her.

"She's right. I'm starving." Rachel joked as she leaned back and rubbed her stomach.

"Speaking of work. My studio is still standing isn't it?" Puck asked Rachel with a raised eyebrow. He was sitting in the black suede recliner in the corner of Quinn's room. For a hospital chair, that think was huge, basically almost the size of a lazy boy.

"Of course it is. Sam is running a tight ship just like you. We actually finished another song for the album today and started backing tracks for Sandstorm." Rachel clapped her hands quietly so as to not disturb Davis who was now happily sucking away on Quinn's breast under a blanket. Surprisingly Davis preferred to be covered up when he fed, a lot of babies didn't like it, Beth had been one of them.

"You're going to have that album done way before next Summer." Puck nodded, impressed.

"Maybe, but with everything going on at the moment, if well no..when we get the twins I plan on taking some time off to help get them settled. Do adoptive parents get maternity leave?" Rachel tapped her chin in thought.

"I don't know the logistics of it. I think it's relatively the same as Quinn's. When the time comes we will have a meeting with our human resources guy and figure out what will work best for you Rach. I promise you will have plenty of time to spend with the twins." Puck assured Rachel. Honestly, he should know his maternity leave policies, but the only one he really knew about was Quinn's. It could be different for adoptions, he would definitely have to find out.

"Sounds good to me." Rachel smiled at Puck. He truly was a good guy, always looking out for his employees and friends. Suddenly Beth's stomach growled loudly, causing everyone in the room to chuckle. "Right, we were going to get food. Any special requests? Maybe a bacon cheeseburger for the mom?" Puck cleared his throat. "And dad too?" Rachel laughed when she received two wide grins.

"The cheese on the burger will be a slightly less invasive way to determine if mister Davis here is sensitive to the protein in cows milk." Quinn said as she switched Davis to her other breast. He must have been really hungry.

"Well we know Beth isn't sensitive to it, she can put away some ice cream when she wants to." Santana reached out and poked Beth in the stomach. The young girl giggled before backing away from her Aunt.

"Can we get ice cream too?" Beth asked excitedly. The room sounded off with a chorus of yes' and no's. Quinn and Puck were shaking their heads in the negative while Santana nudged Beth in the shoulder with a wink. If she wanted ice-cream she could have ice-cream. Really, who was going to stop her?

* * *

After running out to grab the food, everyone was sitting around Quinn's room talking and laughing. Beth had climbed onto Quinn's bed and attached herself to her mother's side. It was a picture worthy moment that Santana and Rachel both recorded with their phones. The nurse had visited once to let Quinn know that in the morning she would most likely be discharged, a day sooner than they had anticipated.

"I can't wait to go home. I mean this is a nice room, but I am so ready to sleep in my own bed." Quinn said as she rolled her head against her pillow.

"You would think that with as much money as hospitals make they could afford to buy comfier mattresses." Santana responded from her chair that she had scooted over to the bed. She was scooted down in the chair with her sock covered feet propped up on the end of Quinn's bed.

"I think someone else could use a comfy mattress at the moment." Rachel murmured as she watched Beth slowly close her eyes as her head nodded forward.

"It's is getting kind of late and she has school tomorrow. I don't know how she does it, I barely survived a fifteen minute bus ride when I was a kid. She's the first stop in the morning and the last stop in the evening when she doesn't have practice." Santana shook her head as she sat up right and began to put her shoes back on.

"We told her when she decided she wanted to go to middle school at St. Lawrence Private that it was a long ride. I believe she feels like it's worth it. She gets to play soccer, do music and dance and be with a lot of her friends from grade school. She wouldn't have that if she done the home school and day classes in McKinley." Puck shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to do what was best for his kids and going to private school made Beth happy. Besides, she never road the bus alone for very long, several of her friends were early pick ups as well.

"Oh, before we forget." Rachel crossed the room, coming to stand next to Santana who was still seated. "We're going to get married this Friday. If you're up for it, we would love to have you guys there as witnesses. You are our closest friends."

Quinn and Puck both opened and closed their mouths like goldfish. They were stunned to say the least that Rachel and Santana were going to go ahead and get married. This was the first they had heard of it. "What about the wedding?" Quinn asked, she was still trying to get the extremely shocked look off of her face.

"We're still having the wedding in December, we just want to go ahead and get married for the sake of Sierra and Samara." Santana responded.

"What does Sierra and Samara have to do with you two getting married?" Quinn felt like she was drowning in a pile of puzzle pieces.

"You didn't tell her yet?" Santana looked at Puck shocked. All he could was shake his head.

"We want to adopt the twins and getting married will look better on the application." Santana said exasperated. She would have thought that Puck would have been excited to tell Quinn what he had found out.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Quinn reached over and lightly punched Puck in the arm.

"It's not my thing to tell. This is the first I am hearing about the wedding too though. I didn't know anything about that. At least I don't think I did." Puck furrowed eye brows, trying to think back through all of his and Santana's conversations.

"You didn't." Santana laughed and rolled her eyes. "But will you guys be there?"

"Of course we will. Even little Davis will be here." Quinn cooed at the baby who was sleeping soundly in his mother's arms.

_Visiting hours are ending in fifteen minutes_

Santana rolled her eyes at the annoying voice that sounded over the intercom. "I guess that's our que to leave huh?"

Puck and Quinn nodded their heads simultaneously. They wished everyone could stay longer, but this hospital had specific rules. Puck looked regretfully down at Beth, she looked so comfortable that he really hated to wake her. Sighing he leaned over and lightly shook the girls shoulder. "Wake up sleepy head. It's time to go."

"Huh? Where are we going?" Beth yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"You're going home with Aunt San and Aunt Rachel again. You'll be home with me, mom and Davis tomorrow night." Beth sighed and nodded her head. It was great staying at Aunt San's, but she was ready to go home with her parents.

"Dad will come and pick you up from school tomorrow, if that's okay with you?" Quinn asked Beth. She knew that giving her girl something to look forward to would help wake her up. Beth nodded before slipping on her shoes, staggering from sleep when she stood up. Santana gave a quiet chuckle as the half asleep girl came to stand beside her, leaning into her side.

"We will see you guys tomorrow. I will go pick some stuff up for you and take it to the cabin after I go see the twins in the morning." Santana, Beth and Rachel made their way towards the hospital room door after exchanging good byes. It didn't matter how many times Santana walked down these halls, hospitals would always bother her. At least she wasn't walking alone. Santana wrapped her arms around Beth and Rachel, giving them both little squeezes.


	63. Case Plans and Callings

Santana stood at the front doors of the St. Lawrence Children's Home waiting on Martha to let her in. After Rachel left for work this morning, Santana set about making a long list of things that Puck, Quinn, Beth and Davis would need. In general Davis had everything he needed, minus a few odds and ends here and there. Time after time, Rachel had tried to plan a baby shower for Quinn, however the woman didn't want one. In Quinn's words she told Rachel specifically, "I don't like baby showers, I avoid every one I get invited to and just send a gift. I definitely don't want one for myself." So, Rachel had left it at that. She couldn't hold a baby shower for someone who didn't want to be there.

After making her list, Santana had set off towards Shuebury's and stocked up on things she would need to make freezable dinners that even Beth could reheat if need be. She was in for a world of cooking tonight when she got home. First things first, Santana wanted to see her girls. Finally, Martha hit the buzzer to unlock the door, she smiled when Santana walked up to the window to sign in.

"Chloe and Stephanie would like to see you in Stephanie's office before you head back." Martha told a confused looking Santana. What in the world would they want to see her for, unless...it was about the twins. "Come around and I will let you in." Santana nodded her head as she walked back towards the main office door.

Chloe and Stephanie were sitting at Chloe large cherry wood desk talking when Santana entered. They both smiled when they seen it was Santana who had entered. Too excited for pleasantries, Chloe seemed to burst with energy. "We have great news for you and Rachel." She clapped her hands together excitedly. "Please, have a seat." Chloe motioned to the chair next to Stephanie.

Santana sat down a little hesitantly. "What's the news then?" She asked.

Chloe looked back and forth between Santana and Stephanie. "Well..we know you're trying to adopt from our home. Mercedes' called us, along with Sierra and Samara's social worker." Chloe elaborated when Santana furrowed her brows, trying to think of when she or Rachel had mentioned specifically anything about the adoption. "We also know that you haven't had a chance to turn in your paper work since Mercedes' has been out of town. However, the twins social worker would like to meet with you and Rachel and we would like to offer early preparations for a case plan for the twins."

"What exactly do you mean by early preparations?" Santana asked as she scooted forward in her chair. Chloe had definitely caught her attention.

"More or less a list of things that will be expected of you and Rachel. The more of this stuff you have done, the quicker the adoption will go when you get your papers turned in." Stephanie explained as she crossed her leg over her knee.

"I mean, I am all for it, but what happens if we go out and buy all this stuff for the twins and then the adoption agency pulls the plug on it? Rachel and I will have all this stuff for the twins but no twins." Santana rubbed her palms up and down on her jeans. Was it getting hot in here or was that just her?

"I don't think that is going to happen. You have so many people pulling for you in this. I had just been telling Chloe that we should talk to you and Rachel about the twins and then their social worker calls. It's fate Santana. Those girls have been miserable without you. They already know who their mama's are." Stephanie reached out and touched the back of Santana's hand.

"I'd like to go see them." Santana's knee started bouncing. If the girls had been as miserable as she and Rachel then they probably weren't in the best of moods right now. Santana knew she could change that.

"Go ahead. We can get that case plan list started and ready by the time you leave." Chloe clasped her hands together before she rested her head on them. There was no doubt in her mind that those girls would be going home with Rachel and Santana. Those two women were everything the twins needed.

* * *

Santana made her way towards the nursery, stopping to exchange pleasantries with some of the kids coming out of the cafeteria. Most of them were headed back upstairs to the classrooms to finish up their studies for the day. It was always nice to see everyone, but Santana was the most excited to see her girls. She giggled to herself as she entered the nursery and saw Benton playing with the twins in the designated play area.

"No, like dis." Benton explained as he handed Sierra a very large red crayon and pointed to the piece of paper they were coloring on. Sierra was more interested in putting the crayon in her mouth. Samara sat to the left of them with her little face scrunched up as if she knew that what Sierra was doing was gross.

"Hi babies." Santana greeted as she walked closer to the play area. She could see Nicky struggling to diaper a wiggly Jasmine.

"Ms 'Tana! You came to see us?!" Benton jumped up and ran across the room, crayons long forgotten.

"Of course I did!" Santana wrapped the little boy in a hug as he barreled into her legs at full force. Sierra and Samara took notice that one of their favorite people was there and stood up as quickly as they could. The twins toddled over to Santana, their little sneakers squeaking as they walked. Oh..those are very annoying. Santana thought in her head. Santana sat Benton back down onto his feet and squatted down to Sierra and Samara's height. "My girls. I missed you so much." Santana whispered as she kissed each girl on the top of the head. Sierra and Samara clung on tightly as they buried their faces into Santana's shoulders.

"Mith." Samara murmured.

"Miss, did you miss me too?" Santana asked, elated that the girls were continuing to learn new words. "What were you guys working on?" Santana turned her head to address Benton who was standing there patiently with his hands behind his back. He looked very handsome in his little basketball jersey that someone...probably Stephanie...had gotten him.

"Jus' coloring." Benton rocked back and forth on his heels. "Come color too." He reached his hand up for Santana to take. Santana stood up careful not to knock the girls over and followed Benton back to the play area. Sierra and Samara followed right along, clapping happily when Santana sat down in the floor. They wasted no time in making themselves comfy in Santana's lap.

"Hey Santana." Nicky greeted with a smile as he brought a finally diapered and dressed Jasmine over to join everyone.

"Hey. Where's everyone else?" Santana asked curiously. Jasmine, Benton and the twins were the only babies in the nursery at the moment.

"They're scattered about. Some are outside and some are in the classroom. Jasmine was asleep and these guys just didn't want to go." Nicky shrugged his shoulders. Babies and toddlers were so confusing sometimes.

"Was you about to go do something else or can you join us?" Santana asked Nicky looking up. She would never be able to get over how often Nicky changed his hair color. One day it was blue the next it was pink or platinum blonde. At least he wore it well no matter what color his hair was.

"I can join you guys." Nicky grinned as he sat down next to Benton and grabbed some crayons and a piece of paper for himself. Nicky looked up a moment later. "Did you talk to Chloe and Stephanie when you came in?"

Santana looked up from where she was guiding Sierra and Samara's hands. She had to do something to keep them from making the crayons dinner. "How did you know about that?" She asked with furrowed brows.

Nicky scoffed. "Please, Santana. Any one can see that the girls are yours already. You know this, I know this, we all know this. Hence the reason they want to move ahead with a case plan so once your adoption goes through you're already one step closer to bringing the girls home. They deserve to be with people like you and Rachel. You two will take the best care of them and give them everything they could ever need and probably ever want."

"Need, yes. Want...they will have to earn some way. Rachel and I want to spoil them but they have to learn the value of a dollar. Everything that Rachel and I have, we have earned because we worked hard for it. These girls will too." Santana wrapped her arms around the twins and pulled them close. Both girls squealed with delight and wiggled around to get comfy in Santana's arms. Santana looked down at her girls, she loved how they were dressed today. Sierra had on a purple giraffe shirt and little jeans while Samara had on jeans and a white shirt with horses on it. Whoever had dressed them had obviously kept their favorite animals in mind.

"Either way..." Nicky continued. "There is no better place for them."

"Thank you." Santana smiled in appreciation.

* * *

That was how Santana spent the rest of her day, hanging out with all the babies as they filtered back into the room for lunch and a nap. Sierra and Samara of course wouldn't relinquish their hold on Santana until they were both rocking and sound asleep in the Latina's arms. It was sad that she wouldn't be there when they woke up, but Santana knew she couldn't hang around the home all day. There were things she still needed to get done..calling her parents was one of those things if she actually went through with it.

It was a hard decision to make as Santana sat looking at her phone going back and forth in her head about all the ways that this could go wrong. It was Wednesday and she needed to go ahead and bite the bullet. They may not even come, Santana thought to herself. She looked over to the passenger seat where the file for the home's case plan laid. It wasn't nearly as much stuff as the adoption paperwork, but it was still a lot. Seeing that made this all the more real and she needed the support.

Biting her lip, Santana dialed the familiar phone number and waited. She listened to it ring as she looked around the parking lot of the restaurant she was at waiting to pick up dinner for she and Rachel.

_"Hello?"_

"Hola, Mami."

_"Santana...how are you?"_

"I'm okay. I just uh...I wanted to call...see how you and Papi were."

_"We're okay too. It's really nice to hear from you. How's Rachel?"_

"She's good." There was a long pause. "Listen Mami...I was calling to tell you about some things that are going to be happening. I don't really want to do all this small talk stuff." Santana rubbed her thumb back and forth across her steering wheel.

_"What's going on Santana?"_

"Well..you see. Rachel and I are getting married Friday at the court house in St. Lawrence. You and Papi are welcome to come if you like."

_"What...why the court house? That's so soon Santana..have you thought about this at all? Oh dear, I should go and get your father."_

"Mami...calm down. Yes I have thought about this. You can go and get Papi if you want, but it's not going to change anything. Please don't come down here if you have any ill intentions."

_"I have no ill intentions Santana, just explain this to me please. Why a court house marriage?"_

"Rachel and I are planning on adopting a set of twins from a home that we volunteer at. Being married makes our chances of getting them greater. We're still having a big wedding in December, but we want to do this now."

_"Oh Santana...my baby...getting her own babies." Maribel sniffled. "We will be there..no questions asked."_

"Thank you Mami...and thank you Papi." Santana grinned when she heard her father's quiet you're welcome followed by a chuckle. Of course he was on the phone too. "I have to go now, but I will see you Friday."

_"Okay...Oh Santana?"_

"Yes, Mami?"

_"I know this conversation was short and to the point, but please...call more. Things shouldn't be like this Santana..your father and I...we're deeply sorry and we want to be better." Maribel finished quietly._

"We'll figure it out." Santana responded before she hung up the phone and blew out a long breath. That had been...interesting to say the least. However, they were on to the right start.


	64. Bringing Home Davis

"Rachel!" Santana yelled as she came through the front door carrying a bag of food for dinner. "Where are you?" She asked as she kicked off her shoes and tossed her keys into the bowl that sat on the end table beside the couch.

"Upstairs! I think I have most of these papers for the adoption agency done. Besides the stuff that you have to sign and fill out because I don't know a whole lot about your family history." Rachel called from the loft.

"Well, get ready for more papers. The home sent a case plan layout with me." Santana softened her tone as she made her way upstairs after sitting their food in the kitchen.

"What..wait can they do that?" Rachel questioned with a pensive look on her face. "I mean we haven't even turned in this stuff yet?"

Santana shrugged her shoulders. "They seem pretty confident that we are going to be cleared. Besides it's more of a check list of what all an actual case plan covers. So, more paper work and a home visit to make sure we have the room for the girls, back ground checks, drug tests, everything we have already done at some point or another." Santana stated as she stretched out beside Rachel on the bed. She knew she couldn't lay there long, she had dinners she had to make for Quinn, Puck, Beth and Davis.

"I'm sorry I missed seeing the girls today." Rachel spoke quietly as she pulled at a loose string on the hem of her pants.

"Hey." Santana rolled over onto her side and rested her head on Rachel's thigh. "Don't be sorry, it's okay. You had to work. We missed you though, we colored and hung out. Here I will show you pictures." Santana reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She began scrolling through tons of pictures that she had taken throughout the day of the girls coloring, playing with baby dolls, having lunch and finally snuggled together on her lap asleep.

Rachel reached out and tentatively ran her finger across one of the pictures of the girls sleeping. "I can't wait until they are here with us and I can hold them while they sleep."

"I know." Santana sighed and closed out the picture album. "I will get my part of these papers done so we can take them to Mercedes' office Friday evening or Monday morning. Hell, maybe we can even have her meet us Saturday or something. The sooner we get them to her the better." Santana stuck her phone back into her pocket and rested her head back on Rachel's thigh. "Ugh, I need to get up. I still have cooking to do before Quinn and Puck gets home."

"Do you need some help?" Rachel asked with a hopeful expression on her face. She really just wanted to be close to Santana right now.

"I could always use your help. I also have some other stuff to tell you." Santana grinned as she stood up and held her hand out for Rachel who smiled back and gladly took it. The adoption papers could wait for a little while since they were almost done anyway.

* * *

"So what is this other stuff you have to tell me?" Rachel asked as she sat the kitchen island cutting up a plethora of green peppers, onions and garlic.

Santana paused momentarily where she stood in front of the stove frying up some ground turkey for a lasagna. Rachel was going to be so happy when she heard this news. To be honest, Santana was excited to tell her. "I called my parents today."

Rachel's knife clattered against the counter top. Had she just heard Santana right? "And? You can't just tell me that and then not tell me what happened." Rachel threw her hands up in the air.

"Nothing really happened." Santana turned around to face Rachel.

"Santana, something happened. You haven't spoken to them in...I don't even know exactly how long." Rachel got up from her stool and crossed the short distance to stand in front of Santana.

"They're coming Friday and they know about the twins. I told them everything in as few words as possible. I also told them that if they had any ill intentions to not even bother showing up." Santana shrugged her shoulders as she crossed her arms over her chest. Yes, she was excited to tell Rachel what she had done and she was happy that her parents were coming. It was just...overwhelming. Like Rachel said, she hadn't spoken to her parents in a long time now and Friday would be here before they knew it. Speaking of..."What are we going to wear Friday? Normal clothes or semi fancy ones?"

"I think they will respect your wishes, at least I hope so. This is their second chance at being your parents and their first chance at being grandparents, if I was them I wouldn't want to mess that up." Rachel wasn't sure what else to say, Santana obviously wanted to change the subject. "I figured we would wear semi-formal. I mean we are only going to the court house, we should look a little nice." Rachel bobbed her head back and forth thinking before taking Santana's hands into her own. There weren't many differences, except that Santana's hands were just a tad smaller and a little darker. Rachel ran her index finger over Santana's engagement ring. "I can't wait to marry you and I am so proud of you for inviting your parents."

"Thank you and I can't wait to marry you either. Mrs. Rachel Berry-Lopez." Santana pulled Rachel close before taking her right hand and spinning her around so that Rachel's back now rested against Santana's front. "I love you so much Rachel." Santana whispered into the shorter woman's neck.

"I love you too." Rachel tilted her head back so that Santana could give her a kiss. "Now, let's get these lasagnas and casseroles done before Puck sends a text letting us know they are on their way home." Rachel patted Santana's hands so that she would let her go. They still had a lot of cooking left to do.

* * *

"Where did you find these warming bags at babe?" Rachel asked as she loaded the last casserole up. Puck had texted a few minutes ago letting them know that they were about twenty minutes out.

"At Shuebury's. The glorious luxury of having a whole sale store in town." Santana responded as she closed up the bag that she was packing. The warming bags had honestly been a lucky find, something that Santana didn't know she needed or necessarily wanted until she came across them in one of the isles. They were made like your everyday pizza delivery bags except they opened like duffle bags so that you could stack pans in them.

"Was this all you were taking up there?" Rachel called over her shoulder as she walked from the kitchen into the living room in order to put her shoes on.

"No, everything else I got I took up there this morning. I even unloaded it and put it all away. I was half tempted to leave it in the kitchen floor, but I am not that big of an asshole. By the time they start running low on anything they will be settled enough that Puck can run out and get it. If not, they know we're only a phone call away." Santana grabbed her warming bag and followed Rachel out to the living room to grab her keys. She had already put her shoes on before she came into the kitchen. Dax and Dahlia were hanging out in their beds, not very interested in what Santana and Rachel were doing. They knew they couldn't go, at least not this time around.

"They should be home by the time we get up there." Rachel studied the clock on the wall. They would have perfect timing if they all pulled up at the same time.

"Let's go see." Santana stood at the cabin door as Rachel went outside to load her bag into the jeep. She locked the door before following her out with her own bag.

* * *

Turns out, Rachel had been right. As soon as Rachel and Santana had parked their jeep, Puck, Quinn, Beth and Davis pulled up in Puck's Range Rover. The only car that he liked to own besides his old beat up truck that he took hunting. Santana could remember all the nights they had sneaked out in that truck to go hang out with their friends at their favorite camping shelter. Their summers had been filled with adventures many times.

"Welcome home!" Santana yelled then abruptly lowered her voice in case Davis was sleeping.

Quinn laughed as she climbed out of the Range Rover, very slowly. Puck jumped out quickly in order to help her. "I'm fine Puck, stop making a fuss." Quinn waved him off. Instead of pushing anymore, Puck just nodded his head and stepped away with his hands in the air.

"I thought she was going to punch the nurses because they wouldn't leave her alone when we were leaving." Puck turned to Santana while resting his fists on his hips.

"I can walk just fine. I may be a little slow, but that's it." Quinn explained exasperatedly. She was more than capable of doing things for herself.

"Yes, yes we know. Mrs. Independent." Santana huffed and rolled her eyes before she walked around to the back of her jeep and opened the hatch. "Okay, we have lasagnas in one bag and casseroles in the other. Everything else is already in the house."

"Did you get Beth's..."

"Sport's drinks? Yes." Santana nodded her head at Quinn.

"What about the..."

"Unscented wipes that actually fit Davis' wipe warmer? Yes."

"Well, did you remember to save..."

"The receipts? No, because I told you, that it was on me. I got everything that you _actually_ needed and plenty of stuff that I thought you _may_ need. Quinn, the only thing you need to worry about right now is getting your two big babies and your little baby in the house. Dinner for the next two weeks is on me. Well this is only about a weeks worth, but I have plans for some soups and stews too, I just ran out of time tonight." Santana raised up the warming bag that she was holding.

"You two are truly life savers." Puck was beaming with gratitude.

"We know, we're amazing." Santana smirked and grabbed Rachel around the waist pulling her into her side before kissing her on the temple. Glancing over at the Range Rover, Santana noticed that Beth was quietly gathering stuff to take in the house while Quinn unbuckled Davis's car seat. Her smile slowly faded as she watched Beth, something wasn't right. "Will you take this please?" Santana whispered to Rachel as she handed over her warming bag.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked worriedly. Instead of answering verbally, Santana nodded her head the side towards Beth. Oh, Rachel understood instantly also that something was wrong.

Santana stuffed her hands in her pockets as she made her ways towards Beth. Quinn was heading into the house with Davis, Rachel followed along behind her while Puck ran ahead to unlock the door. He would come out and help Beth as soon as he got Quinn and Davis settled. "You okay kiddo?" Santana asked as she stopped beside Beth who was struggling to pull her duffle bag out of the back of the car.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Just tired. School felt like it was never going to end today." Beth sighed and sat down in the open hatch. She blew a piece of her long blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Is that it? You're not feeling anxious now that Davis is home and he is definitely here to stay?" Santana leaned against the hatch but didn't sit down.

"Maybe a little." Beth looked down and drug her shoe through the gravel.

"This is the part where it can get overwhelming, so just remember what we talked about a few months ago. You can always call me or Aunt Rachel to come and get you okay?" Santana nudged Beth in the shoulder to make her smile.

"I really am excited that he's home though. Now I can see him whenever I want." Beth turned to look at the cabin as Puck came back out of the front door. "Dad already promised that he would take me to school and come and get me as much as he can. And mom was telling me about stuff that she has planned for us when Davis gets settled. I think Davis is that last little drop of glue to help us all stick together." Beth nodded her head like she was agreeing with herself.

"That's a really deep and mature thing to say. You have done some major growing up since we first talked about this stuff." Santana wrapped her arm around Beth to give her a side hug.

"I'm in middle school now. I have to grow up sometime." Beth shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal.

"Oh, child. Just don't grow up too fast." Santana kissed Beth on the top of the head before standing up to help her with the bags. "Let's get what we can and your dad can get the rest."

Puck caught the end of that sentence as he finally made his way around to Beth and Santana. "Sure, you two are going to leave me with the heaviest bags aren't you?" Beth and Santana just laughed as they carefully chose what bags to carry into the cabin.

* * *

**I am aware that this chapter is fairly rushed, the next few are kind of similar in moving things along. Honestly I just want the loose ends tied up so that we can move on and focus on the home, the twins, the actual big wedding and Santana reuniting with her parents. This story obviously isn't going to end any time soon, but I do want the bigger things to get here quicker. **

**Thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites and follows. I appreciate everyone who has stuck around for this many chapters and will continue to stick around until the end. You guys really make this writing thing fun. **


	65. Heading to the Courthouse

"Santana did you ever decide what you were going to wear tomorrow?" Rachel asked as she stood in front of her closet looking at her best dress clothes. She had narrowed down her choices to a knee length red dress or the dress that she wore the night Santana proposed.

"Yeah. I am wearing my pin stripe pants and a cream button down blouse." Santana responded from her position on the bed. She was tired because it had been a long day of working on the last sign for Peter which was now nearly done. All she had left to do was some touch ups here and there. It was similar in size to the one that she had done for the children's home, however this one was just for Peter's production building. That meant it wasn't nearly as creative since Peter wanted to keep a clean and crisp look to it.

"Okay, so that means I am going to wear...my engagement dress." Rachel grabbed the dress and held it up in front of her spinning around to face Santana. She loved the black material and how the silver rhinestones glimmered in the light.

"It's perfect." Santana said as she raised up and propped her head up on her hand.

"What time are your parents getting here?" Rachel wondered curiously. Santana had told her they were coming, she just hadn't mentioned the time yet.

"They're going to meet us at the court house. So noon. Then I figured we could all go out to dinner afterwards." Santana stated with her eyes closed. If she stayed in this position much longer she was definitely going to fall asleep.

"We should probably call ahead to where ever it is we are going. You know make sure they have room since there will be so many of us. Mom and Cassie, Dad and Bayani, your parents, Quinn, Puck, Beth and Davis, then us; that's eleven and a half people." Rachel exclaimed with wide eyes. This was supposed to be a small quick thing so that they could get the adoption underway, but it didn't appear to be turning out that way. Santana started laughing loudly at Rachel's use of a half of person to count for Davis.

"I wish the girls could be there. With them and Davis they would make a whole person so we would have an even twelve." Santana sighed wistfully. Maybe if they got lucky the girls would be able to attend the wedding in December and even be flower girls.

"I do too. But at least we get to see them this weekend since we have to start moving the paintings over to the studio for the show. I can't believe it is almost time for it already." Rachel shook her head in disbelief. It felt like it had only been yesterday when Santana came home with the news about hosting the art show.

"Life is about to get even more crazy busy. We have the art show and finishing up the decorating at the new home and then we to help them move and set the rooms up. Plus the adoption and wedding. How are we ever going to find time to get everything done?" Santana asked as she flopped back on the bed.

"We will find the time. We have found it this whole time while we have been busy and we will keep finding it." Rachel declared as she crossed the loft floor to join Santana on the bed. She snuggled close reveling in the warmth that Santana always seemed to radiate. Rachel felt like she was going to start purring like a cat when Santana began to run her fingers through Rachel's long dark locks. Closing her eyes, Rachel was content just lay there a while with Santana. Their lives were so busy it felt like they never got a chance to just be together anymore without interruptions. For the moment they were going to take full advantage.

* * *

Santana jerked awake to the sound of her alarm clock going off. She fumbled around for a moment before finally finding the offending item tucked under Rachel's pillow. How in the world that didn't wake up Rachel, she didn't know. The shorter woman simply turned over, blindly searching for Santana in her sleep. Santana smiled, Rachel had the cutest pout on her face and her hair was a mess. Also, add in the fact that they had fallen asleep in their clothes and it was definitely a picture worthy moment. Santana thought better of that idea, Rachel wouldn't appreciate the sentiment one bit.

The current time was seven thirty and Santana knew they had to get up and start getting ready soon so that they could head to St. Lawrence. Hopefully things would go smoothly today and they would be able to get married, if not they would have to wait until probably Monday to see a different judge. That would really put a damper on things. However, not one to be discouraged so easily, Santana had plenty of hope that someone would be able to marry them.

Thinking back, Santana remembered during this time three years ago how she had nothing like she had now. It was a lonely life, at the time all she had was Dax. Day in and day out she and Dax spent all their time working on the cabin or tree house. Puck would stop by every two or three days to make sure that she hadn't worked herself to death. Artie only came around when he had orders for her to fill and everyone else only really saw her when she went into town.

Now, she was getting married and about to adopt two babies. If only her Abuelo could see her now. Santana smiled thinking about him. Man did she miss him. He was always her proudest supporter, the most vocal about following your dreams and setting out to accomplish something in life. His favorite saying was _make sure people remember your name and all the good you done, long after you're gone. _To this day, everyone in McKinley knew who Santana's Abuelo was.

Santana sighed as Rachel shifted again, this time instead of moving closer to Santana, she moved back and looked up. Rachel noticed that Santana's eyes were closed but the woman definitely wasn't asleep. She had a content smile on her face. "What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked sleepily.

"My Abuelo. I miss today." Santana opened her eyes to look down at Rachel.

"He'll be with you. He's always with you, just like I know my Daddy will be with us today too. They wouldn't miss this for the world even if it is a court house wedding." Rachel giggled as she buried her face into Santana's chest.

"Well, let's just hope a judge is still there. I mean if there isn't one we will have to wait until Monday unless someone else we know can marry us. Either way, we can definitely get our license today, which is a huge step."

Rachel looked confused. "There will be a judge there. That was one of the things I asked when I called. He hangs around a lot on Friday's for weddings in particular."

"Really?" Santana waited for Rachel to nod. "Oh, thank gosh. I was honestly a little worried."

"Everything is going to go fine today." Rachel placed a quick peck on Santana's lips. "We will go get our license and then skip over to the court house and tada; get married. You over think stuff sometimes and create worries in your head that don't need to be worries, love. I told you from the start that we could handle this." Rachel snuggled back down against Santana. "Now, let's go back to sleep for an hour before we have to start getting ready."

* * *

Santana looked down at her watch checking the time once again. They had been standing in front of the county clerks office for ten minutes now and her parents weren't there yet. "Were are they? I knew they wouldn't actually come." Santana whispered to herself. Had she put too much faith in her parents? Probably. It wasn't the first time she had expected them to be somewhere only for them to not show up.

"They'll be here San. It's only twenty till twelve." Rachel frowned and rubbed Santana's back trying to sooth her. Everyone was already here, dressed to the nines in semi-formal clothing. Shelby and Cassie wore slightly matching outfits of blue dresses, while Leroy and Bayani were both dressed in black dress pants and different colored button downs. Leroy's being purple while Bayani's was a pastel green. The Puckerman-Fabray men were dressed in nice jeans and fitted vests. Technically Davis's was just a shirt, but it still counted. Quinn and Beth were matching in sun dresses, a classic Fabray look. Now they were just waiting on Santana's parents to show up.

Suddenly Santana heard someone calling her name. She turned her head to the right to see her parents quickly walking up the sidewalk. Her father was waving his arms trying to get her attention. An involuntary grin broke out on Santana's face. They made it, for the first time it what felt like her whole life, her parents had shown up when she needed them.

"We're so sorry, we're running behind. There were two taxi accidents in the city this morning with no way around them. Your father drove as fast as he could." Maribel looked around at everyone. "Oh no, did we miss it?" She asked panicked.

"No, Mami. You're right on time." Santana wasn't sure whether to hug her parents or not. She hesitated a moment before she felt a slight nudge in her back, pushing her forward. It took a moment before Santana actually wrapped her arms around her mother, but when she did the dam behind her eyes broke. Santana released a sob that she wasn't aware that she even had in her. For once in her life her parents hadn't let her down, they were actually here and they wanted to be here for her.

Rachel stood back as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Santana stood weeping in her mothers arms as her father came up and wrapped both of them in a hug. He too had tears in his eyes. "We're so sorry mija. It's time for a change." He mumbled brokenly.

Still not comfortable with huge displays of emotion, Santana soon broke the hug and stood back wiping her eyes. "Uh, Mami, Papi. Before we do this, I suppose we should introduce you to everyone." Rachel had taken some tissues out of her person and was trying to clean up what little make up Santana had decided to wear.

"We know Leroy and of course Noah and Quinn. Oh goodness, Noah...are these your babies?" Maribel asked with her hand over her heart.

"Yes Ma'm. This is Beth and this little dude is Davis." Puck placed one hand on Beth's shoulder and held up Davis in his car seat with the other.

Maribel pulled back the blanket that was covering Davis. "My gosh, how old is he?"

"Five days." Quinn answered proudly.

"We better get going then. He doesn't need to be out for long periods of time." Maribel responded worriedly. Yes her maternal instincts were kicking in.

"Mami..." Santana trailed off as she shook her head, seemingly telling Maribel not to start anything. "Quinn and Puck know what they're doing. Davis is okay. Anyway, Mami, Papi, this is Leroy's fiance' Bayani." Santana waited for her mother and father to exchange greetings before she turned to Cassie and Shelby. "This is Rachel's mother Shelby and her wife Cassandra." Shelby smiled politely and shook hands with Santana's parents as Cassie did the same.

"It's really lovely to meet all of you." Maribel smiled politely as Marcus also shook hands with everyone.

"Yes, yes lovely smovely. Let's get this show on the road, I've been in here waiting for twelve hours now." Everyone turned around to see Sue Sylvester standing in the doorway of the county clerks office. Santana just laughed and shook her head, she wasn't even going to ask how Sue knew about this. Rachel probably told her if the grin on the shorter woman's face was any indication. It was nice to have Sue here, especially if Santana's parent's hadn't of showed up. For the longest time Sue was the only family Santana had, so of course she should be here.

"You heard the woman, let's get married." Santana grabbed Rachel's hand and cheered, encouraging everyone to join in. Slowly they began to file into the building, this was finally happening.


	66. Let's Get Married

"Next." The St. Lawrence county clerk bellowed without looking up. Why must so many people wait until Friday to come in and get their marriage license? It was the weekend and she was ready to go home.

"We're next Rachel." Santana whispered with giddiness.

"I know babe. You have all your stuff right?" Rachel looked around Santana's front trying to see her hand. She probably should have asked sooner, you know..before they left the cabin, but honestly it hadn't occurred to her.

"Yes, I have my ID and my birth certificate right here." Santana raised her hand and waved the paper around. She looked around the room that they were all standing in. It was your standard dark colored walls and all the workers were behind a large glass window. It had been a bit of a hassle to get everyone through the security check point. They had to remove all their jewelry and empty their pockets, it would be the same process once they went into the court house too.

"Next."

"That's us babe." Rachel exclaimed as they made their way up to the window.

"Alright ladies, I need to see two forms of identification. And you need to fill these out." The clerk handed a clipboard through the window. Rachel grabbed the clip board and stepped over to the side with Santana. The information was pretty simple and it took no time to fill out. "I need you both to initial here and here. I also need the fee of forty dollars." The clerk pointed to two spaces on the form and looked up expectantly. "You have sixty days from today's date to perform a ceremony with two witnesses or the license becomes void and you have to apply again."

"Is there a judge at the court house today that can marry us? We were told there was one in particular who hung around on Friday's." Santana asked as the woman the money and waited for their official document to print.

The clerk looked up from her computer. "Judge April Rhodes is in today, or at least she should be. Judge Ubanks that normally does the marriages had a court case today."

"Okay, we will go see Judge Rhodes then. Uhm, how can we get a copy once everything is done?" Rachel inquired.

"Just bring the completed document back here and we can get you one." The county clerk paused a moment. "Can I ask why you two are getting married so quickly?" Of course it wasn't any of her business, but she was always curious.

"We are planning on adopting a set of twins and being married increases our chances of getting them." Santana explained with a small smile on her was happy when the clerk smiled back with no hint of maliciousness.

"Those twins are going to be very lucky." The clerk smiled before she handed the form through the window to Rachel and Santana. "Good luck ladies."

* * *

Rachel and Santana now found themselves standing outside of the judges chambers at the court house. Just like they had thought, the whole process to get inside had been tedious. At least they were here now and by the looks of it they were definitely going to be a while. Santana had counted at least six other couples waiting to meet with Judge Rhodes. People really did like to get married on Fridays.

"Do you two have rings?" Puck asked randomly as he sat on a bench with one of his legs crossed over the other. Quinn sat next to him rocking Davis back and forth, he was quickly becoming a cranky little boy after his bottle.

"No, well not today at least. We're going to save that for our wedding in December." Santana replied as she scooted closer to Rachel.

"How's that coming along? Do you guys need help?" Maribel asked, to be honest she really wanted to help but she didn't want to overstep any boundaries.

Shelby looked back and forth between Cassie and Leroy. "Well to be honest we have everything ordered and most of the stuff either goes to the catering company or the decorators."

"Then let us help pay. We respect that you have your own money, but please let us help..with anything really." Marcus was prepared to whip out his check book right then and there. He knows you can't just throw money at people and expect it to fix things, but his only daughter shouldn't have to pay for her own wedding. His mother would turn over in her grave if she knew that he had went this long without fixing things with Santana.

"Mr and Mrs. Lopez, I am sure we can find plenty of stuff for you to help out with, without you having to pay for anything. Why don't all the parents have a set down dinner together to discuss things. How long are you two staying?" Rachel asked as she looked up at Maribel and Marcus.

"A while, if that's okay. Neither one of us have taken a vacation in years." Santana scoffed but was quickly silenced by a hand resting on her knee. "You're allowed to be upset Santana, we understand. You can say whatever it is you need to say." Maribel expressed with sadness in her eyes.

"Do you know the last vacation we ever took as a family was to California? I was six and you know who I actually vacationed with? Abuelo. He took me swimming at the beach and sight seeing, he took me to Disneyland. We didn't even see you two until it was time to go back to the airport because you were at some big medical convention the entire time. You know what? I'm not doing this with you two today. We can hash things out before you leave, but not today. Today is our day." Santana pointed to herself and Rachel. Everyone stood around trying to find anything to look at for a distraction. It was rare that they seen a true upset Santana outburst.

"Hey! I remember that trip, you brought me all kinds of presents back." Puck exclaimed with a smile on his face. He knew he needed to shift the gears of this conversation before Santana really got upset.

"Everything that Abuelo bought for me, he bought one for Puck too." Santana explained to everyone. "Anytime I went somewhere and you couldn't go, I always brought you presents. Good presents too!" Santana laughed.

"Except for that one time when you thought that because you wanted a pet rat, I would want one too." Puck shivered at the thought.

"Prudence was a nice rat!"

"The thing bit me as soon as you handed him to me!" Puck argued back at Santana while everyone laughed.

"You know, your Abuelo would be so proud of the adults you two have grown into. Both of you have very successful careers and families." Maribel sniffled.

"We like to think so too, Mami." Santana stood up and wrapped her surprised mother in a hug. It was spontaneous and out of the blue but Maribel accepted it none the less. Anytime she was able to hug her daughter was a special moment that she would never take for granted again.

* * *

"Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry?" A bailiff stood outside of Judge Rhodes chambers with a slip of paper.

"That's us." Rachel stood up and took Santana's hand as they led the very large group into the office.

"Well, aren't you two ladies just as pretty as a peacock." Judge Rhodes spoke in her strong southern accent. Santana was momentarily taken aback as she stared at the woman. Never in her life had she heard such a strong accent anywhere in New York before. However, to be fair, New York was a melting pot of all cultures and diversities. "Now, how are we doing this? Do you want the regular spiel or did you two have something else in mind that you wanted to say or read?" Judge Rhodes, rested her clasped hands on her desk.

"Uh..we just want the regular..stuff..I guess. We kind of wanted to save all our good stuff for our actual wedding when it happens. So no vows and no rings today." Santana shrugged her shoulders as she looked to Rachel, silently asking if she agreed. Rachel nodded her head.

"We can do that. Who is going to sign off as witnesses? You know it can't be blood related family members." Judge Rhodes flipped over the marriage license that had been laid on her desk.

"Puck and Quinn or Puck and Sue, who ever really. It doesn't matter to us." Rachel looked around Santana to everyone who was standing at the back of the office. "Please don't sign it as Puck though."

"Don't worry, I hadn't planned on it." Puck chuckled as he stepped forward and pulled out his ID. Judge Rhodes hadn't asked for it yet, but he was sure she was going to.

"I'll sign as the other witness, since blondie over here has her hands full anyway." Sue stated as she too stepped up beside Puck to sign the license. Quinn scowled in response.

Once Sue and Puck had signed their names, Judge Rhodes stood up behind her desk. "Who is who ladies?" She asked as she pointed back and forth between Santana and Rachel.

"Santana Lopez and this is Rachel Berry." Santana responded.

"Lovely, lovely. Now you two sweet thangs are sure you want to marry each other? Iv'e been married twice before and you know what they say, third time's the charm."

"Yes, we're sure." Rachel stepped back a little warily.

"Okay. Santana Lopez, do you take Rachel Berry to be your wife, promising to hold her in times of sadness, dance with her in times of happiness, care for her in times of sickness, and stick with her through the good times and the bad?" Judge Rhodes decided that she wasn't going to read from her book this time around.

"I do." Santana responded while looking Rachel in the eyes.

"Rachel Berry, do you take Santana Lopez to be your wife, promising to hold her in times of sadness, dance with her in times of happiness, care for her in times of sickness, and stick with her through the good times and the bad?"

"I do." Rachel responded as well. She couldn't contain the tear that slide down her cheek. She and Santana had already been through so much together in the last three years, this was just putting a stamp on their forever.

"By the power bestowed upon me by St. Lawrence county of New York. I now pronounce you wife and wife." Judge Rhodes looked at the two women who looked back at her expectantly. "Kiss your damn wife!" She exclaimed while clapping happily, everyone else joined in the clapping and began cheering.

Santana suddenly pulled Rachel closer and dipped her backwards, planting an award winning kiss on her lips. She couldn't contain the laughter that began to bubble up. There was a flash and then another as everyone around them began taking pictures, Judge Rhodes included. "All you ladies have to do now is take this back over to the county clerk's office to be filed and you should receive your official certificate in the mail within ten days. I would suggest requesting a duplicate and placing them in two different places just for insurance purposes." Judge Rhodes looked up from where she had stepped back around her desk. She had officially signed off on everything and stamped the license."

"Thank you and in honor of marrying us, would you like to come to the wedding in December?" Rachel asked on a whim.

"I would love to come! Oh, my wife will be so excited." Judge Rhodes clapped her hands excitedly.

"You're wife?" Santana inquired with a raised eye brow.

"Yes." Judge Rhodes spun a picture frame around that was sitting on her desk. In the picture was Judge Rhodes and a taller blonde that Rachel instantly recognized.

"You're married to Judge Holliday?" Santana's eyes widened. After the trial with Rachel and the Porter brothers they never had a reason to see Judge Holliday again, but oh man was this a surprise.

"We've been married a few months now. You know her?"

"Well..not really know, per say. She was the judge for something that..uh..happened to me." Rachel explained nervously. Her palms were starting to sweat, remembering everything that had happened to her was overwhelming.

"Oh..oh! Why didn't I realize that before?! You're the Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry. I didn't connect the names until now...I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you and I am more than happy to have been the one to marry you two lovely ladies. This is my personal address and phone number. Now I don't normally do this, because this is unprofessional and very forward, but just know that if you ever need anything, call me. Also that address is for my invitation." Judge Rhodes winked as she handed the slip of paper over to Rachel.

"We will send you one as soon as they come in." Santana looked over the address and phone number as Rachel passed the piece of paper to her to put into her pocket.

"Bailiff, get the next couple." Judge Rhodes ordered as everyone began to file out of her chambers.

"That was interesting to say the least and very fast." Rachel breathed a sigh of relief Judge Rhodes hadn't mentioned anything else about the Porter brothers.

"Indeed, it was. But now we're officially married and one step closer to bringing our girls home." Santana wrapped Rachel in a tight hug before kissing her again. "Let's get the rest of this done so we can go to dinner and then go home to celebrate properly." Santana husked into Rachel's ear who shivered, hopefully dinner would fly by.

* * *

**I still want to smack myself in the head for using Marcus as both Santana's fathers name and the main Porter brother. It's too late to change it now, so just know anytime I use the name in this story it will be in reference to Marcus Lopez, unless stated otherwise.**


	67. Congratulations

Everyone sat gathered around a large table at Gino's, a fancy Italian restaurant located in the heart of St. Lawrence. Santana absolutely adored this place for it's rich cherry wood tables and various shades of red decor. Various pasta's had been served along with a probably too much money bottle of wine. It was a special occasion, so it was okay. Santana was just glad to be somewhere in private with her closest friends and family.

Leaving the court house had been hectic. Someone had tipped off the paparazzi that Santana and Rachel were at the court house for whatever reason and they had been swarmed as soon as they left. It had taken Sue and several other police and security guards to get everyone back into the county clerks office so that they could turn in their paper work. Marcus, Leroy, Puck and Bayani had fought the crowd in order to get the cars drove around to the back of the building so that everyone could leave. Santana really regretted giving Duncan the night off and not bringing him with her. She had no idea that they would be that swarmed in St. Lawrence of all places. It was normally a quiet place where she and Rachel never really had to worry, but tonight had been a totally different story. It wouldn't have been as bad if the group of photographer's hadn't of gotten a little pushy and aggressive. They couldn't run the risk of anyone getting hurt, especially Beth and Davis.

At least now it was over and they had made it inside Gino's without being seen. Hopefully it would stay that way for the rest of evening. Santana stuck another forkful of pasta into her mouth. This was really good, it was something new that she had decided to try and she was definitely going to have to find a recipe to make it at home. Salmon in a butter cream sauce was quickly becoming a new favorite dish.

"Maribel, are you and Marcus staying here in St. Lawrence or McKinley?" Rachel asked in between bites of her food.

"We were going to stay in McKinley at the lodge. We understand that Bayani runs it?" Maribel looked down the table to where Bayani was seated next to Leroy.

"Yes Ma'm. I've been running it for years now and slowly taking over. The actual owner is finally looking to sale and I officially made an offer yesterday." Bayani smiled before he took a sip of his wine. Leroy rubbed his back lovingly. He was so proud of the man that Bayani was, he always put one hundred ten percent into everything that he done. That lodge has been his life for so long, starting as a skiing instructor and slowly moving up the ranks.

"Congrats!" Everyone held up their drinks in a toast to Bayani.

"While we have our glasses raised, I would like to propose a toast to Santana and Rachel also." Puck cleared his throat and stood up. "I know you wanted to save all of this mushy crap for your actual wedding, but as your unofficial brother, I think I should be allowed to say something now."

Santana rolled her eyes playfully. "Just get on with it Puck."

"I am if you wouldn't interrupt me." Puck playfully scowled. "Rachel, first things first, welcome to the family. You're an amazing woman and I commend you for putting up with Santana as long as you have and intend to. Santana and I like to worry and for many years we went back and forth worrying about whether or not the other one would find happiness. We made a pact when we were ten that if neither of us were married by fifty, we would marry each other just so we wouldn't be lonely." Everyone chuckled at this. "Then one day I went to Santana's as I was on my way to the city to get Quinn and that was the first time I met Rachel Berry. I knew from the start that there was something between Santana and Rachel, something special that Santana could hold on to for life. So, with that said, thank you Rachel for bringing a spark back to Santana that I hadn't seen in a long time. You truly are her better half and I wish you the best of luck in raising a family together and if Santana ever gets out of line, just send her to me. Congratulations on your marriage." Puck clinked his glass with Quinn's and sat back down as everyone cheered and clinked their glasses together also.

"I just want to say a few things too." Maribel took her turn standing up, she smoothed down her black dress before she addressed everyone at the table. Santana and Rachel specifically. "When you were born Santana..your father and I knew you were going to be a spit fire, a force to be reckoned with. We wondered if you would find someone that could match your independence or if you would settle for less than you deserved. I'm more than happy to say that Rachel, you darling girl, you are truly the perfect match for Santana. I'm so happy she has found someone like you to share her life with. We're so happy that you Santana, invited us today and I can say on behalf of your father and I that we are here to be better. There may be no way to make up for every short coming, but we sure would like to try, if you will give us that chance." Rachel looked over at Santana who was trying to hide the blush running up her neck and face. Never did her parents ever dote on her like this, especially in front of her, but it was nice. "I will say it again, congratulations and here's to many years of a happy marriage and raising beautiful babies. I really want to see pictures of and meet those little girls."

"Is it my turn yet?" Leroy waited until Maribel was seated before he stood up. He looked pointedly at Rachel before he spoke. "My tiny ballerina, how far you have come. Hiram and I were beyond blessed when Shelby agreed to be our surrogate. We truly had no idea how much joy you would bring into our lives. That first night we brought you home, Hiram sat up all night watching you even though he had just finished a twenty four hour shift. You blossomed right before our eyes and you never let anything stand in your way of accomplishing your dreams. I know we had a rough spot and things changed, someone tried to take your dreams away from you, but thanks to Santana you're here today. So, what I really want to say is thank you Santana for being the rock that Rachel needed, thank you for loving her and thank you for letting Rachel love you. To Rachel and Santana!" Leroy raised his glass to the table.

Santana and Rachel were both blushing hard now as everyone took their turns saying something. Quinn, Marcus, Bayani, Cassie and even Beth shared a few words. Davis tried but the most he got out was a few spit bubbles. They were highly appreciated. The last person to finally stand up was Shelby.

"How do I follow all of that? I've been sitting here trying to think of something wonderful and great to say, reflect on some memories or something and I keep coming up short because I don't even deserve to be here today. But that is what makes you so wonderful Rachel. I don't deserve to be here, but yet here I am because you gave me another chance. Another chance to see the wonderful woman you have grown to be and a chance to see the wonderful mother that I know you can be. I'm so very thankful for that." Shelby wiped away a few tears that had began to fall. "I'm also thankful for all the trouble that Cassie and Santana went to in order to help Rachel and I reconnect. You two thought you were being sneaky, but let's just say you suck at it. You're an amazing person Santana and I just want to thank you for helping Rachel and I start on a new path together. You two make an amazing couple and I happy I get to witness the love that flows between you two and the love that is flowing around this table today. This is truly one amazing family that I am beyond blessed to be a part of."

Santana looked around the table, these people were the best of the best. Of course some of their friends would be a little upset that they hadn't been invited to this little impromptu wedding, but the actual wedding in December would be the bigger party that everyone could partake in. Rachel and Shelby still had a lot of ground to cover as did Santana and her parents, however, tonight was a great start.

It still felt a little foreign to Santana to officially be a married woman. Rachel was her wife, that was fact and no one was going to be able to take that away from her. Santana looked over at Rachel who was now engrossed in some kind of conversation with Maribel. She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. Her parents were here and they were getting along with everyone.

"I want to say something too, since everyone else got their chance." Santana announced randomly. She cleared her throat when everyone turned to look at her. Oh, that's a lot of attention at once. "Uhm...thank you all for coming today and thank you for celebrating with us." Santana turned to her right to look directly at Rachel, it was easier to block out everyone staring at her. "When I first met you, I knew something about you was different. I had to stop myself from kissing you that very first night you were at my cabin. I've never been a sucker for the whole love at first sight crap, but you...you had me from the moment we met. I love you so much and I love that you're my wife now. You push me to be better every single day. I want to always make you proud and I want to raise babies with you and travel some more, there's a whole list of stuff!" Santana chuckled as she waved her hands in the air. "Like Puck said, you are my better half and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you and our girls." Santana kissed the back of Rachel's hand before she leaned over and gave her a long deep kiss on the lips.

"We're about to make a scene." Rachel whispered against Santana's lips.

"I don't care." Santana laughed. "I love you so much."

"I love you to the moon and back a thousand times. Thank you for agreeing to be my wife even though you had already asked." Rachel rested her forehead against Santana's. "You know that first night I knew too that something was going to happen. I didn't understand it, but I knew deep down that something was happening. After the car wreck, I was so scared that you wouldn't want anything to do with me anymore and that I would be kicked out once you were better. You have stayed with me through everything and I can't thank you enough for that. I only hope one day that every one in the world can find a love as great as mine or anyone's here at the table tonight. Because, to feel what you make me feel everyday, is something that everyone should get to experience." Rachel connected her lips with Santana's. There wasn't a day that went by where she wasn't thankful for all that she had, because she knew like her father's and everything that had happened to her, in an instant, it could all be taken away without a second thought.

* * *

After dinner, everyone was stood outside of the restaurant saying their goodbyes for the evening. Luckily no more paparazzi had showed up so for now they were in the clear. Rachel stood next to Santana holding her hand with their fingers laced. "Thank you all for coming tonight, we had a great time."

"What happens now with your adoption? I mean the whole reason you done this today was for the girls." Puck asked out of the blue.

"We're going to call Mercedes' in the morning and see if she is back in her office yet. If she isn't there she should definitely be back by Monday and that's when we are going to turn in our adoption papers. Tomorrow we have to go to the home and pick up the paintings. The art show is really soon. You're welcome to join us." Rachel posed the statement to Santana's parents which was meant to be more of a question.

"We would love too. Will we get to meet the girls?" Marcus asked as he rested his hand on Maribel's back.

"I don't know. They're supposed to have most of the paintings packed, so it may just be a pick up. But, it may be possible, we can get try and get day clearance for you two." Santana answered. The disappointment on her parent's faces was really sad so she knew she would have to figure out something other than showing hundreds of pictures.

Leroy released a jaw cracking yawn. "Sorry, it's just been a long day. Old man and all that jazz."

"It has been a long day. Mami, Papi, are you two okay to get back to McKinley? It's been forever since you have been out there." Santana looked at her parents with concern. It really was getting late and she didn't want them to get lost on any of the new roads.

"We will follow you to town, we can find the lodge once we get there." Marcus waved off Santana's concern.

"Once we get to town, I can take you to the lodge. I have to swing by and drop off a new set of keys. Our new doors were finally installed today." Bayani didn't want to bring up the shooting, but it was kind of inevitable.

"Okay then. It's settled. We will see everyone tomorrow." Santana and Rachel began to exchange goodbyes with everyone as they slowly dispersed from the parking lot. In no time everyone was headed in the direction of McKinley or in Shelby and Cassie's case, back to the other side of St. Lawrence.

"I have so many plans for you once we get home." Rachel slid as close as she could without ending up in Santana's lap as she drove. Santana felt a shiver run down her spine as Rachel rested her hand on Santana's thigh and began rubbing up and down. She couldn't help that her foot maybe pressed down just a little harder on the gas peddle. There was no stopping Santana on getting home as fast as she could so that she could make love to her wife. Yeah, her wife. Man she loved that word.


	68. Always Be Yours

Santana flipped over in bed, groaning as she shifted her legs around. Her body was blissfully sore from the fun that she and Rachel had spent all night having. The sun was shining brightly into the large loft windows, creating a spot light affect on Rachel's naked back. Santana smiled as she reached out and trailed her hand down Rachel's spine. It still seemed a little surreal that Santana was laying in bed with her wife. The woman she had fell in love with instantly when she was unexpectedly and literally dumped on Santana's door step. Santana scooted over in the bed and placed her lips against Rachel's shoulder before wrapping her arm around her waist and attempting to fall back to sleep.

* * *

The next time Santana woke, it was because she kept hearing a clicking noise followed by Rachel mumbling to herself. She shifted around, much more awake this time, trying to see what Rachel was doing. The shorter woman was sitting up in bed, now with a blue tank top on, with her laptop resting on her lap. Her brow furrowed deep in thought as she studied something on the screen.

"What are you doing baby?" Santana asked, her voice still rough with sleep.

"Oh..uhm I was looking at toddler bed sets..for the girls." Suddenly Rachel turned shy at having been caught.

"Yeah?" Rachel nodded. "Can I see?"

"Sure." Rachel turned the computer a little so that Santana could look too. Santana had sat up in bed and wrapped the blanket around her torso. Rachel may be dressed but she was definitely still naked.

Santana was instantly in awe of the baby blue, trimmed in white toddler bed. It came with a matching chest and four shelves, two blue and two white. "I really like that one. Which one is that for?" Rachel shrugged her shoulders, she hadn't gotten that far yet.

"I was just looking. You know, for something simple that we could get and set up. The best ones I found, they need to be older for. They're either too high up or there's no place to attach sides so they won't fall out." Rachel clicked through some of the other beds that she had found, giggling at Santana's excited oo's and aw's.

"Wait they had tree house beds now!? Why didn't they have this stuff when I was little?" Santana pouted, poking out her bottom lip.

"These are the ones I was talking about being the best, but they can always just go play in the big tree house..with their Mami." Rachel smiled and kissed Santana on the cheek.

"I really like the sound of that. So does that first one come in any other colors? Is that your favorite one? We could just get two of them. They would get at least a couple of years use out of them and then when we build the new rooms, we can decorate them with new beds and sell those or I don't know donate them or something." Santana was just letting her filter go this morning, throwing ideas around. Honestly, she would base her decision on whatever Rachel wanted to do.

"Okay, slow down. Yes they come in different colors and for now it's my favorite one, but there's others we can look at. There's all the themed beds that we can look at and different woods or hard plastic. Also, how are we going to do this until the new rooms are built? We haven't discussed it anymore." Rachel asked with her best thinking face on.

"Well for now, I figured we could stay here in the loft and turn the guest bedroom at the bottom of the stairs into the girls room. It makes the most sense, since they are the two closest rooms in the house. I'm going to hire some loggers and millers to pull and mill the wood for the new rooms and I was thinking of hiring my Abuelo's most trusted contractor friends to do the build. We're so busy, I can't possibly do it myself in a timely fashion." Santana was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be doing this build on her own, however Stewart King of King's Construction was a long time family friend and the best suited for the job.

"Which direction are you planning on building in?" Rachel asked curiously.

"I'm going to move the natural pool I want farther out and go to the right, when you're looking at the cabin from the front. So from here, we're going left." Santana pointed across the cabin. "I built your studio room and the other guest bedroom back and to the right from this perspective. So I figured, we can just open up the hallway a bit more and add our master bedroom, the master bathroom, a very lovely walk in closet, a bath room for the girls and one more bedroom. We can just use the guest bedroom that is over there as the other room and turn the room right down stairs back into a guest room." Santana explained. Rachel raised her eyebrows, she wasn't really surprised that Santana already had some form of a lay out in her head. She was surprised the depth that she had it planned out though. "This is going to be the biggest build this cabin has ever seen, besides when it was initially built."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to have to get something way bigger than what we have now to keep our power on. I'm thinking a solar tower or two. Because I don't want more solar panels plastered all over the roof. Besides, I know you hate when I have to get up there and clean them. A solar tower will be maintained for us. Instead of an electricity bill, we will just pay a maintenance fee." Santana had looked into solar towers before, she had just never really had a use to go ahead and get one, but after this build she would definitely need one. There was no way that she could run more outlets and heating and cooling systems in the new rooms on the solar panels they had now. It would be a major system overload.

"How much is something like that going to cost?" Rachel asked a little hesitantly. Santana looked down and rubbed at a spot on the blanket that was covering her legs while she mumbled a number. "How much?" Rachel asked again. She thought she heard what Santana said, but she wasn't for sure.

"About sixty thousand for two. But that includes the towers themselves, the crew installing them and doing all the wiring. Maintenance is a thousand a year, since they only have to come out every four months. Some people pay that for two months of electricity. I know it's a lot of money, but we have it and it pays for itself. I plan on using the money from Peter's contract to pay for it and the build so we won't even have to touch anything we have saved now and honestly I can make all that money back with one art show. I know that's super cocky sounding, but you know it's true yourself." Santana knew she was rambling now, but she and Rachel always prided themselves on being great money savers. They kept track of all their accounts themselves so they never had to worry about a shady accountant scamming money from them. Rachel had two different savings accounts, Santana had her trust fund account and a savings account, and then they had their joint account where their everyday expenses came from. The women were two of the few who honestly forgot how rich they were sometimes.

"Will you show me what these towers are exactly? It's not about the money really, I know we can afford it. It's just I know you're going to try to do all of this yourself and that's not fair. I live here too and I want to help. We're married now. You have to let me help." Rachel smiled as Santana turned the computer more towards her and began to search for the exact towers that she wanted.

"I will show you and then we need to get ready to head to the children's home. I need to call my parents and make sure they are ready. I was going to ask if they wanted to ride with us? Is that okay?"

"That's perfect." Rachel patted Santana on the thigh. She was so happy that Santana was making strides in working on her relationship with her parents.

* * *

Sierra and Samara sat in their baby jail glaring at Stephanie. So what if they had had meltdowns when Santana and Rachel had left. They were supposed to go with them! In Sierra's head it had only been minutes since Santana and Rachel left, when in reality it had been hours. The little girl didn't realize that she had taken a nap after crying herself to sleep. Sierra furrowed her eyebrows as she pushed herself up and walked across the large octagon play pen to the side closest to Stephanie who was sitting at her desk. She was working on behavioral reports for several of the babies. It was something she done weekly for all of the children's social workers.

"Steehhhhh!" Sierra screeched. She wanted out and she wanted out now.

"What's wrong baby?" Stephanie responded.

"Out!" Sierra stammered while waving her hands around.

"I'm sorry, but you and your sister aren't getting out right now. It's raining and there's not anyone to watch you in the classrooms. You have to stay here for now." Stephanie knew the game the little girl was playing. If she let her out, she would go all tornado on the room.

Sierra's little face instantly scrunched up as she opened her mouth to release a large wail. She didn't understand anything Stephanie said, she just knew the woman had made no move to get her out. "Mamamama." Sierra sniffled as she rubbed her little fists against her cheeks. Samara who had been busying herself with a stuffed penguin since she awoke took a great interest in her sisters antics and began crying too. Slowly she began to repeat what her sister was saying. "Mamamama."

Stephanie dropped her pen that she had been writing with. The girls...were they saying what she thought they were saying? Mama? Were they talking about Santana and Rachel? Suddenly Stephanie jumped up from her desk and walked over to Sierra's cubicle in the back of the room. She knew there were pictures of the twins with Santana and Rachel in there.

Walking over the play pen, Stephanie squatted down to Sierra's level. "Who are you yelling for loves?" She asked looking between Sierra and Samara who decided she was going to join her sister at the side of the play pen.

"Mamama." Sierra sniffled again as her tears began to lessen, at least she had gotten Stephanie away from her desk.

"Who's Mama? Is this Mama?" Stephanie held up the picture she had grabbed. Rachel and Santana was sitting outside on one of the picnic table benches, each with a twin in her lap.

Sierra screeched happily and grabbed for the picture. "Mama!" She said again as she made grabbing motions with her hands for the picture that Stephanie was holding. Stephanie still didn't know who Sierra was calling Mama, but she knew for a fact that it was either Santana or Rachel.

* * *

Santana sighed happily as she wrapped the last painting in bubble wrap. They had worked all afternoon, wrapping and packing each painting and then making made dashes to the cars in order to load them. Two days into October and the weather had instantly taken a turn from cool and sunny to cold and rainy.

Rachel sat with Santana's parents against the wall of the classroom. They too were wore out from working all day. This morning when they had arrived, Chloe had greeted them at the front door and cleared Maribel and Marcus with day passes so they too could help. Instantly they had been given a tour and sent to a class room to help pack. Santana and Rachel had of course stopped by the nursery where they had spent a few minutes greeting and playing with the twins. When they had to leave, sadly there had been two major meltdowns, resulting in Stephanie putting the twins in a play pen so they would stop running towards the door when Santana and Rachel tried to leave. The risk of them getting their fingers smashed was too high.

Feeling her pocket vibrate, Santana pulled it out and read the text message. It was from Stephanie. _Come to the nursery. NOW._

"We've got to get to the nursery. Stephanie just texted." Santana exclaimed in a panicked voice. Rachel jumped to her feet and was out the door in a flash followed by Santana, Maribel and Marcus.

Rachel doesn't think she had ever ran down a set of stairs so fast in her life. She busted through the nursery door looking around frantically. She didn't see any blood or hear any tears. She was met with the laughter of Stephanie and the twins.

"What's going on? What's wrong?" Santana asked out of breath as she came in the room behind Rachel.

"Listen to this." Stephanie stated proudly as she turned to look at Rachel and Santana with tears in her eyes. "Who is that Sierra? Samara? Who are they?"

"Mama!" The twins yelled happily as they both raised their arms in the air. Santana and Rachel stood stunned as they watched the twins continue to happily yell Mama.

"Are they?"

"Talking about us? For sure?" Rachel moved slowly towards the play pen.

"Yeah. They are." Stephanie said as she moved out of the way so that Rachel and Santana could get to the twins. Santana didn't care how silly she looked, she stepped over the side of the play pen and sat down as Rachel followed suit. Instantly the twins wrapped themselves around the women, making themselves comfy in their laps, now quietly chanting Mama.

"Of course, we're your Mama's." Santana murmured as she wrapped Sierra in a tight hug before kissing all over her face. She couldn't stop the happy tears that now streamed down her face. Santana glanced up at her parents who were standing in the doorway, also crying. It didn't matter that it was still pouring the rain outside, Rachel and Santana's day couldn't get any brighter.

* * *

**So, I have to tell you guys that a month ago I started a new job. (yay!) I had been doing okay at keeping up with my writing, however lately I've kind of fallen behind. Normally I'm ahead at least three chapters so the night before posting all I have to do is edit. At this moment in time, I am only ahead by one chapter and that's really bumming me out. It's just with work, I don't have as much time. Fear not though, this story IS NOT ENDING OR GOING ON HIATUS. There's a chance that updating will go from every third day to every fourth day. Monday's chapter (69) will be the original third day, but chapter 70 may go up Friday instead of Thursday. **

**Is that okay with you guys? Are you going to come after me with flames and pitch forks? Do you even care as long as I don't go weeks or months between updates? I would really appreciate some opinions here. If you really dislike it, I will try my hardest to keep the original third day updates. I will even take a pad and pen to work with me and write during my breaks. I just need to know what you guys think, this story is as much for me as it is for you.**

**Also, Fun Fact: The first part of this story officially has over 50,000 collective views. That blows my mind. So, thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites and follows on both stories. I can never stress enough how much they mean to me. You guys are truly the greatest. **


	69. Get This Thing Started

"Mami, Papi. You two can come in." Santana coaxed, trying to get her parents to come in from the doorway. "Stephanie these are my parents, Maribel and Marcus Lopez."

Stephanie stood back up to her full height. She had still been crouching at the side of the play pen. "It's lovely to meet you both." She said politely as she shook Maribel and Marcus' hands.

"Likewise dear." Maribel smiled and then refocused her attention back to Santana and Rachel. She couldn't get over hearing those two little girls yelling for her daughter like that. "I assume these are the twins you two are going to try and adopt?"

Santana laughed and nodded her head as she tried to wipe the tears off her cheeks. "This little perfect angel is Sierra and that's Samara." Santana turned Sierra around so that she was facing Marcus and Maribel before nodding her head at Rachel indicating that she had Samara.

"Oh, they're so precious. Look at them Marcus." Maribel was bent over with her hands resting on her knees, she wanted to get in the floor, but she knew her knees would hate her if she did. "Hi babies." Maribel gave the twins a small wave. She laughed in excitement when Sierra waved back, her little hand twisting back and forth.

"Uh oh...we need a diaper change." Rachel said as she stood up with Samara in her arms. "What have you eaten today little one? You've got a stinky bum. I can't sit in this play pen any longer anyway, it makes me feel like we're on display at a zoo or something." Rachel climbed over the edge of the play pen and made her way to the back of the room where the changing table was.

Everyone listened to Rachel talking to Samara, successfully keeping the baby laughing so she wouldn't get upset about her diaper change. "Mami, Papi, you two can set down in the gliders there." Santana pointed towards the glider chairs that were sitting on the outside of the play pen.

Maribel and Marcus made their way over to the chairs, never taking their eyes off of Sierra. "How old are they Santana?" Marcus asked.

"They will be sixteen months on October twentieth." Santana lightly scratched at Sierra's sides making the little girl giggle.

Sierra flopped back against Santana's chest and looked up at the woman. "Mama."

"Yes baby?" Santana responded looking down. It would take some time to get used to hearing being called Mama, well eventually Mami. Nonetheless, it was still pretty damn special.

"Bite."

"Bite? Are you hungry mija?" Santana rubbed her knuckles gently on Sierra's cheek.

"They probably are hungry, they slept right through lunch after you and Rachel left. But, bite means these." Stephanie walked over with two containers of yogurt bites and two sippy cups of juice. "It's almost dinner time anyway, so these should hold them over for now."

"Oh boy. Look mija, Steph brought you bites." Santana shook the bag to get Sierra to focus on them.

"Bites!" Sierra clapped excitedly and stuck her hand in the bag as soon as Santana got it open for her. She wasted no time in sticking her fist in her mouth, which was full of yogurt bites.

"We want bites too." Rachel said as she brought Samara back over to the play pen and sat her down. Well, attempted to set her down as Samara did not approve of Rachel letting her go. The little girl pulled her knees up and bent her legs, holding onto Rachel for dear life when she tried to sit her down.

"No, no no no." Samara chanted.

"Okay, okay. I won't put you down. Santana will you hand me her baggy and sippy cup?" Rachel asked as she positioned Samara on her hip. She waited until Santana handed the items to her before she made her way over to the table and sat down with Samara facing outward on her lap. Samara took a few of her yogurt bites out before losing interest and started drinking her sippy cup. She leaned back into Rachel's chest and was just content to sit there watching everyone in the room. "Samara's the observer, the strong silent type." Rachel smiled down at the little girl as she rested her folded hands on Samara's legs. "Sierra's the talker and more mischievous one."

Santana glanced down at Sierra who was having a field day with her yogurt bites and grinned. Yep, she would definitely be the most influenced by Santana's shenanigans. Looking up through her lashes, Santana watched her parents watching her. They both sat with small smiles on their faces. It was easy for them to see all the love shared between the twins and Rachel and Santana. Hopefully, if they could prove themselves, Santana would let them try to be the best grandparents that any grandchild could ask for.

* * *

All of the toddlers sat around the large table in their high chairs eating dinner. Marcus and Maribel had taken great pride in being asked if they would like to help feed the babies their dinner. They were currently sitting in the gliders, Maribel with Jasmine, Marcus with Princeton. Santana sat on either side of Sierra and Samara, making rounds every once in a while if someone needed something. Benton had made himself comfy on Stephanie's lap, his favorite place to sit.

"Knock, knock." Everyone looked up as a head popped around the door and into the nursery.

"Mercedes'!" Stephanie exclaimed excitedly as she hopped up, careful to not knock Benton off her lap. The little boy scowled anyway, his favorite seat was gone. "You're back."

"Girl, it's good to be back." Mercedes' accepted the hug that was offered eagerly.

"How's everything at home?" Stephanie asked quietly.

"They're good, could be better, but for now we're good." Mercedes' face turned a little solemn before it brightened again as she took in the scene before her. "Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry. I've been waiting to meet you two for almost two weeks now. I'm glad I was able to catch you, now I don't have to call first thing in the morning like I had planned too."

"You were going to call us super early on a Sunday?" Santana raised an eyebrow in disinterest.

"Right. But I figured you wouldn't mind when I told you that I was calling for you to bring in your paper work so we could get it filed as soon as possible. The twins social worker is waiting on my call to start a home study, we just have to do some things by the book first, which is getting that paper work turned in." Mercedes smiled as she came around the table to properly introduce herself.

Rachel took a moment to take Mercedes in, she was kind of intimidating when you think about it. This woman was one of the few who had the potential to make or break this family. She screamed business in her pencil skirt suit with at least four inch heels. Who even dressed that way on a Saturday? Rachel looked down at her slightly worn jeans and zip up sweat shirt...she was not prepared for this unexpected meeting.

"How are you able to start a home study when you know nothing about us? I mean, I'm not saying we're bad people or anything. It's just it seems too trusting of you and you should know better as a lawyer for children of all people." Santana didn't mean to get so defensive, it was just if they were willing to jump the gun for them, then how many times had they jumped the gun for it to end horribly for some other child?

"I promise, we never try move things along this quickly unless we know for a fact that the child or children in question is going to a good home with good people. You're celebrities, there is more information out there about you than you realize. Good information too. Plus, we've talked to Chloe and Stephanie here who speak highly of you and the connection you have with the twins." Mercedes looked over to Stephanie who was leaning against the counter with her arms folded over chest smiling.

"It's okay honey." Rachel spoke quietly to Santana who had a thinking hard face on. She reached out and rested her hand on Santana's thigh. "How long do we have to prepare for the home study after we turn in the paper work? I assume you want us to bring it to you tomorrow since we don't have it with us or anything." Rachel looked up at Mercedes.

"Yes, I would greatly appreciate if you brought it to me tomorrow and as preparations for the home study, there's not much to prepare. We understand that you may not have a room or rooms set up yet or things for the children. The first home study is just a get to know you session, anybody can look good on paper, face to face is a different story. She wants to feel you out as people. Since you two already have such a strong connection with the twins, after your paper work goes through and if the social worker more or less likes you enough, you will be sent a list of things needed for the girls. You will have a few weeks to complete the list, which includes adoption meetings, home visits with the girls, and working on the case plan that I know Stephanie already gave you."

"Guilty." Stephanie raised her hand. "We knew things would progress kind of quickly once they started and we wanted them to get everything together, because those girls deserve a good home, just like all the babies in here." Stephanie couldn't help but to smile at Benton.

"Well some stuff on the case plan you can't really prepare for, like the random drug testing until the adoption goes through and copies of any doctor reports from visits that happen in our care. I mean I respect that you want to make sure that the girls are in the best care possible, but really the only stuff we can prepare is their room and buying them clothes and stuff they need." Santana reasoned.

"You really have to do that stuff nowadays? I remember when our old neighbors adopted a little boy when Santana was about ten I think. All they had to do was prove they had a bed, clothes and food and pass a background check to be able to adopt him. Times have really changed." Marcus rocked back and forth as he spoke. Princeton had finished his bottled and was happily sucking on a pacifier well on his way to dream land.

"This is a special case, not just because of Santana and Rachel being high profile, but because of the twins. Case plans are based on the child's past, so I assume you can conclude for yourself the situation the girls may have been in before." Stephanie murmured sadly as she looked at the twins who were still happily eating their dinner. Well, Sierra was happily eating her dinner, Samara looked as if she was about to nod off into her tray. Rachel chuckled as she slowly moved to get the little girl out of her high chair and give her a baby wipe bath. It was getting late and a restless nap after crying just hadn't done much for the little one.

Mercedes looked down at her watch. "I know this was just a quick visit, but all I wanted to do was stop in and see everyone for a moment. Do you guys know where my office is? Over on fifth street by the Home Federal bank." Mercedes waited for Santana and Rachel to nod in the affirmative. "Okay, I must be going, we can talk more in the morning..say ten?"

"Sounds good to us." Rachel smiled as she answered. She had already stripped Samara down to a diaper and was running a warm baby wipe over the little girls arms. Samara was completely limp against Rachel, soft little snores escaping out of her mouth. It was all finally about to happen, soon the twins would be home with Santana and Rachel, right where they belong.

* * *

**The every four day update schedule begins with the next chapter. I appreciate you guys being so understanding, it really means the world to me that you like this story enough to wait that extra day for an update. Just so you all know, I would never go weeks or months without updating.**

**Thank you for all the views, reviews, favorites and follows.**


	70. So Soon?

After the very informal meeting with Mercedes at the children's home, everything seemed to turn into a whirlwind. Santana and Rachel promptly met with Mercedes at her office the next day and turned in their paper work. Mercedes truly did work fast, because before they left, she had almost half of all of their information put into the adoption agency's computer system. It was within a few days that they received the first call from Sierra and Samara's social worker. The were definitely interested in setting up an appointment for the initial home study. Santana had actually squealed and dropped her phone when the lady had called, Rachel had to take over and finish the call.

Everything had went as smoothly as possibly. The social worker by the name of Alison Hall had came out this morning and had brunch with Santana and Rachel. They talked about the girls, Santana and Rachel's history, their finances, and what room was intended to be set up for the girls. Alison had left with the promise to call and let them know something soon.

Now that is was Monday again, tonight Santana was taking her pieces that she had done down to the gallery. They had to make sure all the art work was set up for photographs to go into the programs. The printing company promised that they would have everything done tomorrow (Tuesday morning) so that they could be sent out. This wasn't Santana's first show and from experience she knew they were desperately pushing it with the show coming up this Saturday. However, they had to get this all done today. It would be crunch time soon for the new children's home since it was due to open in about six weeks. The whole crew had to really push it to get all of the rooms done, but with the construction crew almost done entirely, everything should work out perfectly. Agetha and Chloe had really been working the past week recalculating the costs and starting to order everything that they would need for the new home in terms of food and basic necessities.

Santana had been thinking about what else she could do to help out the home. Obviously she wanted to make sure that the home was always well taken care of. That's when the idea struck her that she could do some paintings and advertise them on her website. Instead of directly selling them, it would work like an auction, the paintings going to the highest bidders and all the proceeds going to directly to the home. Rachel had also added in her input that she would like to do a single each year for all the children's homes. Maybe a Christmas song or something and divide up all the proceeds between the homes. She had already talked it over with Joe and Brock who were more than happy to help. Even Puck had gotten involved, throwing around some ideas about putting together a band or two at the home and just seeing what came of it. It was truly amazing just how talented some of them were. Santana was so proud of all the children and how well they were doing. It didn't matter the situation that they currently found themselves in, they got up each morning and made the best of it. That was more than anyone could ask for.

* * *

Rachel sighed as she tossed her leather bag over her shoulder. It had been a long day. After having brunch with Alison and Santana, Rachel had to rush to the studio in order to get some more work done. Now she was finally free after doing background vocals for two more songs. By the time this album was done it would have a total of fifteen songs on it, that was a lot considering most albums have twelve on average. It just seemed like they kept writing and recording, nonetheless, Rachel loved every moment of it. That didn't make it any less tiring though.

Walking out of the studio, Rachel made her way to her car. She had promised Santana that as soon as she got off of work she would meet her in St. Lawrence at the art gallery. Rachel couldn't contain her excitement, all of the pieces that the kids had done were amazing. Hopefully they all sold so that the home would surpass their initial money goal. Starting her car, Rachel pulled out of her space at the studio and headed towards St. Lawrence. She hoped Santana was hungry because she was starving and intended to stop and get some dinner on the way.

* * *

Santana smiled as she saw Rachel's car pull into the parking lot of the art gallery. She had already unloaded and set up her paintings so the photographers could do their work. Rachel put her car into park and gathered the food bags that she had brought out of the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry, I'm late. But...I got one of your favoritessss." Rachel shook the bag at Santana who looked like she might start drooling.

"Ohhh, what did you bring me?" Santana asked giddily as she took one of the bags from Rachel's hand and looked inside. "Chicken curry! Yes! This is one of the many reasons I married you." Santana tilted her head forward giving Rachel an affectionate kiss. A little too affectionate for public eyes, if she was honest.

"Did you hear anything from Alison yet?" Rachel asked once the kiss broke.

"No, have you?" Santana responded as she pulled Rachel with her to the tailgate of her jeep. She was starving and that curry smelled amazing. From past experiences, she knew there were spoons and napkins in the bottom of the bag.

Rachel shook her head in the negative. "We only met with her what five hours ago? How much would she have found out already?"

"Please." Santana snorted. "That woman knew when she walked out of our cabin whether she was going to call us or not. I just hope she knows that no is not an option. We will fight tooth and nail to get those girls." Santana took a bite of her chicken curry, moaning at the deliciousness of it. "I mean, they already call us Mama, which I want to be Mami, but it's a start."

"I know, I hope we here something soon. In the morning would be great." Rachel leaned into Santana's shoulder for a moment before she sat back up and got her own curry out to eat.

* * *

After eating their dinner, Santana and Rachel walked hand in hand into the back of the art gallery. Rachel gasped in awe as she looked around at all the paintings that were on display. "This is magnificent."

"Denise and her crew set it all up. She's the best there is." Santana walked along slowly looking at every piece, it was like she was seeing them all for the first time all over again.

"Well, thank you. I like to think I am pretty amazing at my job." Denise spoke as she smiled and walked around Santana in order to hug Rachel. "I feel like I haven't seen you both in forever, Santana hasn't done a show in months now."

"You know how life can get." Santana shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh, honey. Don't I know it." Denise nodded her head. "So, the photographer is almost done and then he is going straight to the printers after we go through the images. I've seen a few already that are definite."

"Sounds good to us." Santana looked over at Rachel waiting her approval. However, before Rachel could actually respond, her cell phone started ringing. Frowning, Rachel dug through her leather bag, trying not to miss the call. Why was it that when you needed your phone, it was practically nowhere to be found?

"Aha!" Rachel cheered as she finally retrieved the now blaring cell phone. "Oh shit..it's Alison." Rachel looked to Santana who now wore the same frantic expression with her mouth hanging open and her eyes as big as saucers.

"Answer it!" Santana yelled, obviously too excited to speak in her insider voice. Denise stepped away to give the two women some privacy.

"Hello?" Rachel answered, her voice slightly shaking. "Yes." Rachel reached out and grabbed Santana's arm. "Are you serious?" She pulled her in closer so that she could try and hear Alison, even if they weren't on speaker phone. "Okay. Thank you, thank you. We will be looking for it. Thank you so much."

"Well?!" Santana prodded. "What did she say?!" It felt like time was slowing down, Santana could feel herself starting to sweat in anticipation.

"We've been approved." Rachel looked around flabbergasted. "We've been approved Santana!" Before Santana could react, Rachel was jumping into her arms and kissing her soundly on the mouth. "She's going to email us an itinerary for the adoption meetings and an appointment for our first drug test and..and..we've been approved! We thought we wouldn't hear anything today and suddenly she calls out of the blue?!"

"Did she say anything else?" Santana asked as she and Rachel stopped bouncing and kissing each other, laughing breathlessly.

"No, just that we had been approved and that she was sending us an email with the meetings and appointments and a list of everything we need to eventually bring them home. I don't know why we need that, we know what they need." Rachel rolled her eyes a little at this. "Whatever we don't know, Stephanie can tell us or it's already on the case plan sheet and we just missed it."

"It's just normal protocol, I am sure all parents who adopt are given these big long lists. I just can't believe we've been approved so soon. I mean, we had already given up on hearing anything this evening and then boom!" Santana spun in a circle with her arms out by her side. She was in pure bliss right now and feeling every feeling that she could possibly feel. Yes, she was excited and so so happy, but she was also a little anxious.

"We're one step closer. Now we definitely need to pick out bed sets and figure out where we are going to put the stuff that's in the guest bedroom right now." Rachel had her thinking face on already, she was more than prepared to move everything out of the room tonight.

"There's space in the barn loft, we just need to box up all the clothes that's in the closet and move them to the other guest bedroom or put them in storage." Santana shrugged her shoulders, it was the most logical place to put all the stuff.

"Santana? Rachel? Are you ready to see some pictures now?" Denise called out making her presence known before she walked within eye sight of Rachel and Santana.

"Denise! We got approved!" Santana cheered as she watched Denise come closer.

"I heard, well the whole gallery heard. Congratulations." Denise hugged both Santana and Rachel.

"We need to call everyone!" Santana spun on her heels, causing Rachel to almost crash into her. "Puck, Quinn, our parents, they'll be so excited."

Rachel huffed and adjusted her clothing like they had been messed up when Santana turned around. "I know and we will, but right now we need to get back to this. Time is running out and the programs won't be ready to go out if we don't get everything to the printer tonight." Rachel lightly pushed Santana on the shoulder to get her to focus on what was going on in front of her. They had plenty of time to celebrate later. Denise laughed to herself, these two were perfect for each other and those twins that everyone knew about now, were the missing piece to their little family.


	71. Nice To See You

Rachel and Santana sat at their kitchen island looking over the program slash invitation for the art show that they had received in the mail. It was beyond what they had originally imagined. The front was done up with Denise's art gallery logo, a palette and brush set, and each page was filled with high gloss photos of all the work that the kids had done. Santana's work was also featured inside, however she had been adamant that her photos be the smallest and in the back. She didn't want the kids work to be overshadowed by anything. Her only compromise was letting them put her name on the front as co-host so that people would know she would be there. No matter how it sounded, the truth stood that her name would bring in the people. Nobody knew that she had already been in touch with some of her best buyers and asked them to spread the word around about the show as a favor to her.

A couple of places, including the biggest art store in St. Lawrence and Reeds Productions, were running advertisements daily for the show also. As far as Santana knew, Peter's crew would be there to record some of the show for the documentary, which was already in the first stages of editing. They still had a lot to film at the new home considering the ending of the documentary would be move in day. All in all, everything was coming together just as it should.

"This is amazing. Denise's photographer and the printers done an amazing job. I'm surprised we got them already." Rachel awed as she turned the page in the program.

"Cole and Maurice Prints always do amazing work. They're the only ones who ever do my programs, because they truly are the best and they cut Denise a deal since she is their number one customer. Denise must have spent all day sending these out over night. She could have called and asked for help, but I am sure all of assistants were made to help." Santana laughed as she stood up and moved towards the stove where she had home made cinnamon buns baking.

"Probably. Those smell amazing." Rachel was practically on the verge of drooling as she watched Santana pull the pan of cinnamon buns out of the oven.

"They are going to taste amazing too and we have most of the day to enjoy them. Nothing to do today except enjoy being here and going to the new home later today." Santana smiled as she sat down the pan and leaned over the counter to give Rachel a kiss.

"I know, I just feel so bad for the new studio manager. I don't know how she done it, but she had three people scheduled for one studio at the same time and no one realized it until we all got there. Cindy and I gave up our spots since we are working on long term albums and let The Gazers have it since they're doing a Christmas album. Quinn normally does all of that, but with Davis here now and her being my full time agent, Puck asked if she wanted to let someone take over for a while." Rachel explained as she grabbed a fork that Santana had laid down and pulled one of the cinnamon buns out of the pan and onto a plate.

"I'm sure that was tough for Quinn to delegate some of her work load." Santana continued moving about the kitchen, setting a glass out on the counter so that she could make smoothies. She and Rachel needed something a little more healthy than just cinnamon buns for breakfast.

"It weally was." Rachel mumbled with her mouth full. She couldn't help herself, these cinnamon buns were amazing. Even if the time wasn't right for it, Rachel still firmly believed that eventually Santana should open up a restaurant one day.

Santana scrunched up her nose as she watched Rachel laugh at herself for talking with her mouth full. Pfftt, people thought she was going to be the one to teach the twins bad habits? Rachel was the number one person to teach them how to talk with their mouths full. "Since we don't have anything to do this morning, do you want to search for some stuff for the girls? We definitely need to order their beds and I don't know maybe we can find some cute clothes and toys for them."

Rachel nodded her head quickly. The idea of them finally being able to pick stuff out for the twins was a great feeling. It was only a matter of time before they would be able to bring their girls home. Rachel was also excited because she and Marley had plans to start painting the nursery tonight if the paint had been delivered. Hopefully their wall decals were on their way as well. "Are we going to get the beds we looked at already or do you want to shop around some more?"

"We can shop around some more and we're going to have order sheets and blankets, new winter clothes and shoes. They're going to need wedding clothes too, I assume they are going to be our flower girls?" Santana asked.

"Of course they are and we can get their dresses when we meet with Kurt about our wedding outfits." Rachel rested her head on her fist as she began to get lost in thought about everything the girls would need. They needed all of their bedroom stuff, winter clothes, boots, pajamas, sippy cups, their own plates with forks and spoons, in addition to their milk, snacks, favorites foods, pull ups, baby wipes...There was so much stuff that wasn't even on the list.

"I can't wait to see what he comes up with for them to wear." Santana said as she looked down at all of the ingredients she had gathered to make smoothies. Yogurt, banana's, strawberry's, and a little bit of french vanilla shake powder, these were going to be so good.

Rachel was brought out of her day dreaming by the sound of the blender. All she had to do was look at Santana and she felt instantly calm. It didn't matter what all the girls needed, Santana would help in making sure they got everything and more. She was the kind of person who wanted to give her loved ones the world, no matter the cost. Rachel found herself slowly falling into another day dream just as her phone started ringing. She grabbed it instantly just in case it was a number of very important people.

"Hello?" Rachel answered as she smiled in thanks when Santana sat her smoothie down onto the island. "Yes, they are Santana's parents. You can let them in. Okay. Bye Duncan."

Before Rachel could even begin to explain what that was about, Santana burst out laughing. She knew instantly what she had done. Yep, she forgot to tell Duncan that her parents were in town and they may come up to the cabin. "Oopsie...they're going to be a little ticked off when they get up here."

"I wonder how long they sat down there before he called?" Rachel too found herself laughing, she could help it. Santana's laugh was glorious and contagious when she really got going.

"I don't know. I wonder what they are doing though, I thought they were going to explore McKinley today before going with us to the home this evening." Santana peered out of the kitchen window, looking for her parents car. She was a little nervous to have them up here since she had done so many upgrades to the cabin. It only took a minute before the little black Prius they had rented pulled up in front of the house. Santana was surprised as her parents climbed out, it was still odd to seem them in street clothes, but refreshing in a way. She watched as they looked around the front of the cabin, obviously taking in the changes that she had made on the property over the years. Nothing really had changed in terms of the cabin looks besides redoing the wood every year to keep it from eventually rotting away. Marcus walked around to the trunk of the car and pulled out a large bag, well that really peaked Santana's interest. Her parents had presents...maybe.

"I'll go let them in." Rachel jumped up and practically ran to the front door, Dax and Dahlia bouncing around excitedly at her feet. It was like they knew people were here, people that would probably play with them some more.

* * *

"I hope she isn't upset that we just showed up like this." Maribel spoke quietly as Marcus pulled out a large tote bag from the trunk of the car. There were presents for Santana, Rachel, the twins and even the dogs that they had heard about from Leroy and Bayani. No, they weren't trying to buy the love of their daughter, but they did have a few birthday's that they really needed to make up for. This was the start of a whole new relationship and they really wanted it to be special.

"Maribel! Marcus! It's lovely to see you." Rachel greeted them as she opened the front door, Dax and Dahlia shot out of the cabin at full speed. Dax immediately headed towards Marcus to sniff the bag, he knew something was in there that was for him. Everyone always brought him the best presents. "Dax! Down boy."

Marcus laughed a hearty chuckle. "He's fine, he knows I have something for him." Marcus dug around in the bag and pulled out a blue rubber frisbee. Rachel swears Dax almost peed himself in excitement. Since he decided to eat his last brand new frisbee, he hadn't been allowed to have one for a while. Rope toys and his baby penguin were his only play things at the moment. Dahlia was excited to see if she had gotten something too, however she was content to stand in front of Maribel and let the older woman rub her ears and pet her head. She could get her toy later, soft pets took priority for now.

"Mami, Papi, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you two doing here?" Santana asked as she came out on the porch to stand next to Rachel.

"We just wanted to see you two and see the cabin. We had plans to come right after you called Monday night, but it was late and we have a few things we needed to pick up first. You've done an amazing job up here Mija. It's absolutely beautiful." Maribel stood back up to her full height and walked towards the steps. Her father would be beyond proud of how Santana had taken care of his homestead.

Santana looked around. "I'm pretty proud of it." She said with an affirmative nod.

"Have you done any major changes inside?" Marcus spoke as he came up behind Maribel. Dax was trotting along happily with his new frisbee in his mouth.

"I added a new guest bedroom and a studio for Rachel. That's also her screen room out there." Santana pointed across the yard to the tiny building that was currently closed up with the shutters on all the screen windows. Rachel felt bad that she hadn't been out there to her building in a long time, but Santana understood that they had truly been too busy. That was also the reason she herself hadn't been able to make it out to her tree house.

"Did you ever finish the tree house?" Marcus asked with child like excitement.

"I did, I will take you out there before you leave Papi. I'll take you out to the field too and you can see what I have done with the garden. We had such a good year this year. I canned and dried out I don't know how much stuff." Santana smirked a little. She couldn't help it, this was her time to really shine and show her parents that she really had been able to take care of herself all of these years...without their help.


	72. Presents For Us?

After spending a few minutes just chatting outside, Santana along with Rachel, invited Marcus and Maribel into the cabin where Santana spent a few moments showing them around. Her father was truly interested in seeing the root cellar and was more than happy to take the offered jars of homemade salsa and mixed berry jam that Santana had made. Maribel had gushed over the mini studio that Santana had built, she had unfairly underestimated her daughters talents. Now that they were all full of warm gooey bread, and smoothies or coffee. Santana couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "So..you know how I am. What's in the bag Papi?" Santana asked as she leaned over the counter trying to sneak a peak.

Marcus had been guarding the bag ever since he sat down at the island. Discreetly he placed his hand protectively on the bag. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He asked while raising his right eye brow. That's definitely were Santana got her signature look from.

"I really would." Santana fluttered her big brown eyes at her father.

"Oh, Marcus. Just show them. I want them to see the outfits we got for the girls." Maribel stood up from her stool and walked around her husband so that she could get in the bag herself. "But first, these are for you girls." Maribel pulled out two fairly large boxes wrapped in shiny gold paper. Rachel and Santana looked at each other and grinned before tearing into the paper like little kids on Christmas. "Now, if you don't like them, we can take them back."

"Mami, Papi..."

"Marcus...Maribel...These are so pretty and oh my..so soft. Look Santana! Mine says Mama!" Rachel gushed over the plush purple robe that she was holding.

"Mine says Mami on it." Santana began to get choked up, she couldn't help getting a little emotional.

"What's wrong honey?" Rachel asked, immediately concerned. She laid her gift back down into the box before proceeding to rub Santana's back.

"We didn't mean to make you upset." Maribel stood beside Marcus resting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not upset really..it's just this is just such a sentimental gift. I'm going to be a mother, a Mami to two precious little girls. I still can't believe it, I won't believe it officially until they are here for good with us." Santana sniffled and wiped at her eyes.

"Maybe we should wait on the other gift then." Marcus tried to whisper to Maribel, however he had a naturally loud voice.

"What other gift?" Santana wondered. She was still trying to compose herself.

"This." Maribel reached inside the bag and pulled out what looked to be a jewelry box of some sorts. It was too big to be a necklace or bracelet. "I found it when I was going through some boxes in the attic at the house." Maribel watched as Santana opened what turned out to be a watch box.

"Mami..this is Abuelo's pocket watch that he lost one week when he came to stay with me." Santana carefully lifted the watch out of it's box and turned it over carefully in her hands. The pocket watch itself was gold with an ivory clock face. The front cover had a rose pattern, her Abuelo always said it was for his late wife. The back cover contained his initials, AML, Alonso Martin Lopez. "He still had his chain, but the watch itself was gone."

"I found it in a box of old video tapes. Home movies, your favorite kid movies. He must have been hunting one out for you two to watch and he didn't notice it. I had it restored as you can tell and there's a new chain in here if you ever wanted to wear it." Maribel reached across the counter and lifted up the sponge cushion in the box. The chain was a perfect yellow gold match to the watch. Santana was impressed, her mother and father must have spent a small fortune getting this watch back to its original condition.

"What year is it? Both of my fathers used to love pocket watches." Rachel asked as she tried to get a better look at the watch in Santana's hands.

"This one in particular is what Mami, 1910, I think?" Santana had her thinking face on trying to remember.

"I believe so." Maribel nodded in agreement.

"I have his others, they're in a wooden lock box, or safe, whatever you want to call it. But this one...this one was always missing and it felt like a piece of him was missing too." Santana just couldn't get over finally having this watch in her possession. However, she wondered how her mother really felt about it. "Mami, why are you giving this to me? Are you sure you want me to have this?"

"You were his number one. He fussed over you from the day I told him I was pregnant to the day he passed away. The day you were born, everyone in the hospital knew about it. He sat outside with boxes of cigars passing them out, even to people coming in the emergency room." Maribel chuckled as she wiped her eyes. "He didn't want anyone touching you. When the nurses were around he hovered over their shoulders. They were being too rough, which they weren't, or they had you swaddled too tight. Lord forbid you even make a peep like you were going to cry when he was around. He always wore those flannel button downs over his regular shirts and when Santana would cry, he would undo his shirt and snuggle her to his chest. She would hang on for dear life to the pockets on his shirts while he buttoned his flannel back up. All you would be able to see would be the top of her head, that little tuft of black hair sticking out."

"Awh, San! You were a little snuggle bug!" Rachel cooed as she practically wrapped herself around Santana's arm.

"When I got too big to fit under his shirt, he bought me flannel blankets or made me one out of his old shirts." Santana smiled at the memory. She honestly still had some of her blankets, maybe she should get some of her least favorite ones out for the girls. Her favorite one in particular, no one could touch, it was the first blanket he ever made out of his old shirts. The man couldn't sew to save his life, the whole blanket was slanted and every shirt was a different size, but that blanket was special in every way.

"That first blanket he ever made..." Maribel shook her head at the memory. "I swear when he brought it over that day, he had a whole box of band aids on his hands, but he was so proud. Santana took that blanket to pre-school with her in her back pack. If it ripped, he would just patch it up with a piece from a different shirt."

"We need to do stuff like that for the girls. Not necessarily make the blankets for them, because that's your memory with your Abuelo, but like I don't know. I just feel inspired to make little keepsakes and stuff for them. Do you know what I mean?" Rachel asked Santana with a pensive look on her face.

"Of course, we can do stuff like that for them. Make them little treasures and treats. I promise we will make sure they have wonderful memories to think back on when they need them." Santana nuzzled her nose against the side of Rachel's head before placing a gentle kiss on her temple. Maribel and Marcus watched on, both with giant smiles on their faces.

"Also, don't forget, we plan on being around to help make memories too with the help of Leroy, Bayani, Shelby and Cassie. Those babies will never know what hit them. As grandparents, we faithfully promise to spoil them and send them home wired on sugar." Marcus laughed heartily before lightly smacking his hand on the counter.

"Nope, nope, nope on the sugar part. If they even act like they are wired on sugar when they come home, you can turn right around and take them back home with you. Mama and Mami will just have a date night." Santana grinned as she hugged Rachel close to her side.

It was going to be vastly different once the twins got here. No more making love all hours of the night and sleeping all day on their days off. They were going to have to eat less take out, even though it was fairly healthy take out, that was beside the point. Santana had already been looking up kid friendly recipes that she could cook for the girls. There was going to be way more toys than Dax and Dahlia's on the floor. The words _no_ and _don't touch_ _that_ were going to be every day words, _no you can't ride the dog_ would probably be a phrase that Santana would get tired of hearing. However, on the other hand, she couldn't wait.

She couldn't wait for the morning snuggles and cooking with the girls. It would be tragic when they both get their first boo boo's and owies that only Mama and Mami can fix. But in the end it would be okay because a kiss can make a lot of things better. Bed time stories would become routine, which reminded Santana they needed to order the girls some books and book shelves to put them in. Their little room would be everything they never knew they wanted and more. It was going to be glorious.

"Okay, since we gave you your gifts we want to show you what we got for the girls. We can't stay much longer we have early dinner plans with the others." Maribel announced as she dug through the bag that was still sitting beside Marcus.

"Early dinner plans?" Santana asked curiously.

"Yes." Maribel pulled out two medium size boxes and laid them on the counter. "We're having a parent slash grand parent meeting to discuss the wedding and other things." What a perfect time to be vague, however Maribel knew she couldn't spill the beans about the party that was possibly being planned in celebration of bringing the twins home. It was all talk at the moment until they knew for sure that Rachel and Santana were adopting the girls. Yes, they had been approved but they still had the case plan, the home study and all the meetings to do before the final word was given.

"Ohh, that sounds like fun. Just remember don't try to write a check and pay for a bunch of stuff because I promise that is covered." Santana made it a point to look directly at her father. Marcus gave her an innocent smile.

Rachel reached out and ran her hand over the boxes laying on the counter. "If these are for the girls, why are we opening them?" She asked.

"Technically their for the girls and you, just open them and you will see." Maribel clapped her hands together excitedly. She loved giving gifts and being able to give gifts to her daughter and daughter in-law for her grand babies was just out of this world.

Santana and Rachel ripped the paper off with equal excitement. Rachel squealed when she finally got the box open, really who ever gift wrapped them must have used a whole roll of tape. In her hand she was holding a neon green tiny little shirt that said fifty percent Mama, fifty percent Mami, equals one hundred percent cute. Above the words there were two stick figure drawings representing Rachel and Santana respectively. Santana held the same type of shirt, however instead of neon green, it was a bright orange.

"Mami, how were you two able to get such personalized gifts in such short time?" Santana was honestly amazed.

"We found a little shop down town that already had the robes. We couldn't pass up the personalized embroidering that they offered. The shirts came from a printing place that you choose your design and they print it. If it's something they don't have, they give you a discount for bringing them a new design. Now we know that they're going to be a little big since we got the twenty-four month ones, but they can grow into them." Maribel reached across the counter to show the women the tag sizes.

"As you know, it really won't take them that long. They're already growing like weeds. We were planning on getting them stuff all the way up to 2T for the winter. They need room for layers, because we plan on playing in the snow a ton." Rachel spoke as she continued to gush over the cuteness of the shirts. She just couldn't get over how out of their way Marcus and Maribel had went to show how excited they were for the twins. Rachel really hoped that Santana recognized just how hard they were trying. The whole Lopez family deserved a fresh start, making amends and just enjoying life together again.


	73. Showing The Art

It was finally Saturday morning, the big day was here. Santana and Rachel had been working tirelessly all week trying to get together anything they could in preparation of bringing the girls home. The bed sets had been ordered, one dark brown trimmed in purple, one white trimmed in bright orange. They had decided they would let the girls choose which bed they wanted, however both felt like Sierra would go for the orange and white, while Samara chose brown and purple. Now they just had to figure out how to decorate the room so that both bed sets would be accommodated. Santana knew she would have to get super creative.

Santana's parents had actually helped them do some shopping before they left to go out to their early dinner. Sierra and Samara both had plenty of clothes on the way in order to fill up their little dressers once they arrived. They also had a few things sent over night that they had taken to the children's home yesterday for the twins. Two things in particular were the little outfits and shoes that the girls would be wearing to the art show tonight. Yes, all of the children would be there, even the babies for a little while. It was a tradition in the art world, if your work was shown and you were able to make it, you had to be there. People really loved to meet the artists and pick their minds if at all possible. Santana and Rachel were both excited just to see their girls and spend time with them outside of the home. The only issue was that they had to be careful, they didn't want the girls in any media pictures, in fact none of the smaller children were to be in any pictures. The older children were allowed to walk the carpet if they chose too, they were really pulling out all the stops tonight.

"Santana!" Rachel shouted as she ran up the stairs. She had ran to town to grab them a bit of lunch before they had to get ready for tonight. Santana was in the loft laying out what she was going to wear.

"Yeah?" Santana shouted back as she leaned over the railing, watching Rachel stumble her way up the stairs with a large box in her hands. "What's that?"

"It's apparently some of the clothes that we ordered already. The box says Tiger Lily Boutique, so that would be their little leggings and sweater dresses with the Uggs!" Rachel cheered as she sat down on the bed and began to open the box. She was right, inside was two little sweater dresses, one tan and the other a charcoal grey with matching leggings for each. One pair of Uggs were the traditional tan color, while the other pair was black. Rachel couldn't contain her squeal, Santana had been adamant about not getting these outfits. Which really, she was ready to order the girls nothing but jeans, flannels, joggers, hoodies, sneakers and little work boots. In the end Rachel and Maribel had won and the girls ended up with several more stylish, formal outfits. Marcus and Santana had just sat back and shook their heads as their better halves ooed and awed over everything they added to their cart.

"Now that I see the outfits in person, they are really cute." Santana admitted with a half hearted sigh.

"I told you! I can't wait to see them tonight, they're going to look adorable." Rachel swooned as she flopped back on the bed.

"Speaking of tonight, you're laying on my clothes." Santana walked over the bed and playfully swatted Rachel trying to get her to move.

"Oh, I have to pick what I am going to wear too and we have to eat and shower. We're going to have to hurry if we want to get to the gallery on time." Rachel looked around frantic for a clock to see what time it actually was.

"We have plenty of time, let's go eat and then we can get ready." Santana extended her hands towards Rachel so that she could help her sit up. Rachel immediately wrapped her arms around Santana's waist, hugging her tightly when she stood up. "I love you." Santana said before she placed a kiss on the top of Rachel's head.

"I love you too." Rachel responded, resting her head against Santana's chest.

* * *

Santana peered out of the window as Duncan maneuvered her jeep along the super crowded street. If all of these cars were there for the art show, then there was no way that any paintings would be left at the end of the night. You would think they had been heavily promoting this show for months when in actuality it had been less than a week. Sometimes the best way to get something known was to spread it by word of mouth and post it on the internet. Artie had put together some internet ads and posted them to Santana's and Rachel's websites and Denise's Facebook page, it was a last minute thing that had generated a lot of attention. Tonight was the main night for the show, but Denise had made the decision to leave the gallery open tomorrow (Sunday), if there was any thing left, for any one who couldn't make it tonight.

"I wonder if all of the kids are here yet?" Rachel wondered aloud as she too looked out of the window. She was utterly amazed at how many people were outside on the streets dressed in black tie clothing. Were they all going to the art show? Or was there something else going on that they didn't know about?

"They should be. Stephanie texted and said that they would be here hopefully around six thirty so that they could all get inside before the opening." Santana said as she turned to look at Rachel. The woman looked stunning. Rachel had her hair down in soft curls, it flowed over her shoulders like waves. She had chosen to wear a silver dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. Santana had to stop herself from drooling while looking at her wife. Rachel turned her head away from Santana's piercing gaze, she could feel the blush running up her neck and face.

"You look beautiful." Santana murmured quietly.

"So do you." Rachel responded just as quiet. She loved when Santana wore dress slacks and flowy button downs. It was her signature look and she rocked it every time she wore it.

Santana gave Rachel's hand a firm squeeze. They had to control themselves since they had company in the car. Speaking of which, Duncan was their driver tonight for a number of reasons. It was more sensible for Rachel and Santana to be let out of the jeep instead of driving around and around trying to find a parking spot and then walking the carpet. Also, Santana just felt more comfortable knowing that Duncan was close by with so many people around. She knew that he had sent Sean down here early with some other guys from their team to run security tonight. They all hoped that they wouldn't be needed a children's art show, but you never know what could happen.

"Oh my gosh!" Rachel screeched as they approached the front of the art gallery. It looked like a Hollywood movie premiere. Lights and cameras were set up everywhere. "There's Rj and Ashley. Did they come together as a couple? They look so cute together. He looks so handsome in his suit and ohhhh her dress. It's absolutely gorgeous."

"The couple that is trying to adopt her got her that dress. You know she has one more meeting with them and her social worker before she leaves the home." Santana said with a small smile.

"I'm so happy for her. Everyone deserves a family even when they are about to age out of the system. I'm surprised they kept it quiet this long though. I mean no one knew, except for Ashley, the couple and Chloe and Agetha." Rachel had been momentarily shocked when she had heard that Ashley was so close to being adopted. They had made the decision to keep it quiet in case something was to happen and the adoption fell through. Turns out, they had met the couple at the barbecue. That had been the day that they had fell in love with Ashley and started the process on trying to bring her home with them.

"Ladies, you're up next." Duncan spoke from the drivers seat. The people getting out of the car in front of them were both well known art curators from the city. Santana knew for a fact that they had purchased several of her art pieces before. Hopefully they would go for some of the children's art tonight, it would mean more to Santana if they bought the children's art instead of hers.

As Duncan slowly moved the jeep up in the line, Santana prepared herself the onslaught of camera flashes and possible yelling that was about to happen. If it wasn't for the kids and her strong desire to help in any way possible she wouldn't be doing this. Dealing with the press never got any easier, a lot of them were nice, but you would always have the handful that was too invasive.

Rachel was well aware of Santana's anxiety and firmly grasped her hand as Santana opened the door. She wouldn't let go until they were inside the building and away from the majority of the hustle and bustle. The first camera flash was a bit startling, but Rachel held on as they slowly made their way down the carpet. Both women smiled and played to the cameras as reporter after reporter yelled for them to look their way. Santana honestly hadn't anticipated _this_ much attention.

"You okay?" Rachel whispered when they were halfway down the carpet. She had played off asking the question as if she was giving Santana a kiss on the cheek. Without drawing too much attention to herself, Santana subtly nodded her head. As long as Rachel was by her side accompanied with the anticipation of seeing the twins, she could get through almost anything.

"Ms. Lopez, Ms. Berry! Can we have a word with you?" A young man called. Santana had no idea what his name was but he just looked so excited to be here tonight that Santana couldn't pass him up.

"Sure." Santana smiled as she came to stand next to the young man who couldn't be older that twenty-two at the most. "But, just for the record, it's Mrs. Lopez-Berry." Santana grinned and then winked to the camera that was set up.

"My apologies. I'm Myles Taverns, host of Myles Traveled. Yes, I kind of punned my own name, but it works." Myles shrugged and blushed, he knew he was rambling but he was in the presence of two of his biggest idols.

"I like it!" Rachel leaned forward and laughed.

"Thank you. So I know you ladies are on your way in to the show, which Mrs. Lopez-Berry, it's my understanding that you're the brains behind this lovely gathering?" Myles held out his little microphone.

"I guess you could say that. I was approached with the opportunity to just do some paintings in donation to The St. Lawrence Children's Home. I suggested that we hold a show for the children, let them showcase their work since it's all for them anyway."

"The pieces you done are here on display tonight correct?"

"Yes, however I want people to look at everything, not just my work. All of the children are talented in their own right and they deserve the majority of the recognition here. I'm here for them, not for me."

"That's very admirable of you. Also, Mrs. Berry-Lopez, you don't have any work featured here tonight, but you are planning on releasing some music in support of the home. Can we look forward to that soon or farther down the road?" Myles questioned with a glint in his eye. He was hoping for another scoop here, since he had not so subtly gotten the first indication that Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry were finally married.

"Who told you that?" Rachel questioned.

"I have my sources." Myles smiled with a little smirk.

"Well, you could say that I am in the middle of working on something major at the moment that not a lot of people know about, so if there is music of any kind coming, it's farther down the road." Rachel smiled at the camera. She was being super vague and everyone knew it.

Santana turned her head to see Denise waving them inside the building. Stephanie was standing slightly behind her with one of the twins in her arms and uh oh...that twin did not look happy. Myles and Rachel were still talking about tonight's event, but Santana only had one thought on her mind now. She nodded, letting Denise know that she had seen her before she tuned back into what Myles and Rachel were saying.

"This has been Myles Taverns, live streaming from The First Annual, St. Lawrence Children's Home Art Show. Thank you and goodnight." Myles gave a little wave to the camera before turning around and graciously hugging Santana and Rachel. Santana returned the hug with as much politeness as she could muster up at the moment, they needed to get inside.

"What's going on with you?" Rachel asked as Santana practically drug her the rest of the way down the carpet.

"The girls are upset, or well one of them is upset. Denise and Stephanie were waving us in a moment ago." Santana was starting to sound frantic.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. They're probably just overwhelmed by all of the people." Rachel ran her hand soothingly up and down Santana's arm as they finally made it into the art gallery. Stephanie was standing off to the side with who Santana now recognized as Sierra in her arms. Samara was standing next to her, holding onto Stephanie's dress pants with her little fist in her mouth, big tears streaming down her face as well.

Santana and Rachel approached them as fast as they could without running into anyone. Samara immediately let out a heart wrenching sob when she made eye contact with Rachel. She released Stephanie's pants and took off in a sprint, her little legs wobbling, not used to going at such high speeds.

"Samara!" Everyone seemed to yell at once. They didn't want the little girl to get trampled by the big people. Samara didn't hear them, all she wanted was her Mama's. Rachel bent down as Samara ran into her arms, thankfully everyone had stopped walking when the little girls name was shouted.

"I've got you baby. Everything's okay. Your Mama's are here." Rachel cooed as she stood back up to her full height and followed Santana over to Stephanie, Denise and Sierra. Santana immediately took Sierra into her arms as well, they would get an explanation from Stephanie in a moment. Right now? Their girls needed them, their girls who were slightly calming down now that they and practically everyone in the art gallery, knew their Mama's were here.


	74. Art Show Interrupted

Rachel and Santana had been so alarmed about the amount of people who had probably heard them refer to themselves as Mama's that they didn't notice the bump on Sierra's head until she screamed when Santana placed a kiss on her forehead. Santana moved her head back quickly in alarm, a puzzled look on her face. "What happened to her?" She demanded to know.

"She fell into a chair in the green room that Denise kindly set up for us. She didn't fall super hard, but she went from wide awake and alert to yawning and crying. I mean obviously she was crying from bumping her head and the yawning could also be from tiring herself out crying. But, I'm taking her to the after hours clinic as a precautionary measure." Stephanie wrung her hands together nervously. She already felt horrible that one of the twins had gotten hurt while in her care and now they were probably going to miss the whole show.

"Why are we standing here, let's go then." Santana turned to head towards the back exit of the art gallery.

"Santana, wait!" Santana turned around to look at Rachel who had called out for her. "You have to stay here. This is partially your show too."

"I can't stay here. We need to go with them." Santana was gently bouncing Sierra as the little girl snuggled her head into Santana's chest, hanging on with her hands for dear life.

"How about I go and I promise to call you with updates? You're the ring leader here, at least stay long enough to meet a few new people, talk to some that you already know and get the ball rolling for the kids. Then, if we aren't back, you can leave and come join us." Rachel bit her lip as she waited for Santana's answer. She knew the Latina woman really wanted to go. Rachel really wanted Santana to go with her too, but she had to be here. It wasn't necessarily a family emergency, considering they were only going to the doctor just to be on the safe side. Rachel also knew how much Santana prided herself on being professional at all times in the public eye and leaving right at the beginning of the show would be very unprofessional. Someone also was going to have to stay here and try and defuse any talk that might be going on about the twins. How bad could it really be though? So what if Santana and Rachel were in process of adopting a set of twins from the home that the show was supporting? Would someone be bold enough to say something negative about it? That wasn't even the point, the point was they didn't want to announce anything until everything was said and done.

"Okay...I think I can do that..maybe. I really want to go now instead of staying though." Santana placed a kiss on the top of Sierra's head. "I'm sorry I can't go with you, but Mama is going to be with you and I will be there as soon as I can, okay? You be a good girl for Mama." Santana whispered the words into Sierra's hair. She really didn't want to let this tiny precious human go at the moment, but she knew she had to. "What are we going to do about the people that heard us with the twins? I would love to be able to announce that they were ours forever, but we both know that's not true yet."

"Uhm...I'm at a loss just like you are. People are going to find out eventually, I mean we can't hide them and I refuse to hide just to be able to see them, you know?" Rachel looked down at Samara while she rubbed circles on the little girls back. This was supposed to be a good night, but so far it had a taken a bad turn. It was a shame since both girls looked so adorable in their little party dresses, Samara's blue and Sierra's green.

"Sooo, what's the game plan for now? We don't say anything at all?" Santana asked a little confused.

"We shouldn't have to explain ourselves. It's a personal matter that is frankly no one's business but ours." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. She laughed lightly when Samara scowled from being jostled.

"Santana, we're about ready to start if you're staying. Everyone is inside now." Denise spoke as she came back over. None of the women had even saw her leave.

Santana sighed heavily before kissing Sierra on the temple before passing her back to Stephanie a little reluctantly. "I really wish I could go."

"I know, but I promise to call with updates. You go do your thing and Stephanie and I will take care of the twins." Rachel gave Santana a one armed hug and a kiss on the lips before shifting her body so that Santana could give Samara a kiss too. Stephanie still hadn't said anything else as she turned to follow Rachel out of the back of the art gallery. Santana watched them go, wiping a tear that had slid down her cheek. She didn't want to be here now, she wanted to be with Rachel and her girls, but duty calls. This was for the children, the home that had practically raised her girls, she knew in her heart that the girls would understand, but that didn't make staying any easier.

* * *

"I know you're upset at the moment, but thank you for coming with us. Nicky and Rich insisted that I go while they took care of the other kids back at the show." Stephanie broke the silence that had settled between Rachel and herself while they sat in the waiting room at the after hours clinic. They had been here for twenty minutes and was now waiting for a pediatrician to come in, it would be a while, but it was still a shorter wait than the emergency room.

"I'm upset at the situation, but not at you. This wasn't your fault, kids get hurt. They bump their heads, they skin their knees. You can't wrap them in bubble wrap all their lives." Rachel smiled at Samara who was standing at the little kids table in the corner of the room playing with some blocks. Sierra had taken up residency on Rachel's lap, straddling her with her little head resting on Rachel's chest. The bump was definitely bruising. Rachel felt like it looked worse than it probably was.

"I know. I just feel horrible about it. I know Santana was ready to claw my eyes out." Stephanie blew out a breath as she tucked her hands between her knees and focused on Samara. The little girl shook her head around before laughing at herself.

"Santana is super protective, she'll be okay though." Rachel stopped talking when Sierra began to wiggle around on her lap. She laughed lightly to herself before standing up. "Someone needs a diaper change."

"Did she leak on you?" Stephanie asked as she reached the girls diaper bag that was sitting next to her chair.

"No, I just felt my lap get warm." Sierra began to wine at having a wet diaper. She was not comfy anymore at all. "You're okay. Mama is going to go change you." Samara watched Rachel walk into the bathroom with rapt attention before running over to Stephanie and offering her a block with a smile.

"At least I know you're not mad at me." Stephanie mumbled to the baby who just laughed before running back to her stack of blocks.

* * *

Santana walked slowly around the art gallery. She had already made the opening speech for the show and now she was more or less just wandering around and talking to people. Shelby, Cassie, Leroy and Bayani had already found her and asked were Rachel was. It was with a heavy heart that she explained what was going on. This night couldn't go by any faster, but she knew if she kept checking the time it would just drag on. At least one good thing was happening, already ten of the children's paintings had been sold for their full appraisal prices. That meant that they had already raised around five thousand dollars collectively. Santana couldn't be more proud of all the hard work that the children had put into their paintings.

"Santana!" Denise whisper yelled as she came practically running across the art gallery.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Santana asked a little worriedly. Denise didn't appear to be injured, just really really excited.

"I'm fine. But ohhh, have I got something to tell you." Denise bounced around a little. Santana couldn't help but laugh at the woman.

"What is it?" Santana was starting to get excited herself.

"You know Marcson King? He's bought your work before at a couple of shows here."

"Yeah, he's a particularly generous buyer, always paying more than what my paintings are actually worth." Santana knew who Denise was talking about. Marcson King was the owner of a private jets company, he was the best of the best for many celebrities.

"Okay, well I seen him looking at your stuff and I approached him to see if he was interested and boy was he interested. He and his wife just bought a new vacation home in Spain and they want new art work to decorate with. He wants to buy all your pieces as a set." Denise squealed with delight.

"Denise...what's the offer he made?" Santana was beyond curious now, especially if Denise was this happy.

"Wait for it...six million." Denise felt like she was going to pass out.

"WHAT?!" Santana shushed herself when she saw people looking at her oddly. "What? My paintings was only appraised at about three million together."

"I know, he said he wants to match the buying price as a donation to the home. We're already over our initial goal to help all the children's homes. Anything that is sold now is just more icing on the cake. I'm so excited I could pee." Denise done a little dance, almost falling in her high heels.

"I have to call Rachel and tell her. Also I just really want to check on Sierra." Santana couldn't contain the smile on her face as Denise nodded and sprinted off to work the floor and sell more paintings. This night had just took a major turn for the better.

* * *

Rachel smiled as she heard her phone going off. Of course Santana would be calling asking for an update already. "Hello?" Rachel answered as she adjusted Sierra on her lap. After her diaper change the little girl was much happier in general. Now she sat across Rachel's lap rubbing her tights covered feet together, while drinking a sippy cup of milk. Both girls had abandoned their little dress shoes a few minutes ago.

_Hey baby. I have some news for you and Stephanie, but first how are my girls? All three of you._

"We're okay. The nurse brought us back to a room just a minute ago. The pediatrician is here doing rounds now, so he or she should be here soon and then hopefully we will be out of here."

_What are the twins doing?_

"Well Sierra is drinking some milk here on my lap and Samara is reading a book with Stephanie." Rachel glanced over at Stephanie and Samara who both looked up and smiled at hearing their names.

_I wish I was there with you guys._

"I know you do babe. What's this news you mentioned?" Rachel knew she had to keep Santana focused or she would leave the show against her better judgement.

_Oh yeah! So Marcson King is here and you know he always spends way too much money on my stuff. But anyway, he and his wife just bought a new home in Spain and they wanted my work to decorate with. So he decided to buy all of my paintings as a set. Guess how much?_

"I honestly have no idea. I know what your paintings was worth. Did he pay full price?"

_Double. He is paying the three million and matching that as a donation. He alone has helped us surpass our goal. All of the homes are going to be able to do so much with all the money that is going to be raised tonight. I'm so happy right now._

"Oh my gosh. Santana that's wonderful! I can't believe it!" Rachel started cheering and moving around, earning a little scowl from Sierra.

_I know. I'm honestly just happy that everyone can focus on all the children's paintings now. Hmm, I finally see my parents. They see me hiding in this corner. _Santana sighed into the phone._ I guess that means I have to go._

"It's okay." Rachel spoke as there was a knock on the door and an older gentleman stepped into the room with a warm smile on his face. "The doctor is here now anyway. I promise to call you back in a few minutes. I'm so proud of you love. You've done so many amazing things tonight. I love you and I will talk to you soon."

_Thank you. Let me know what the doctor says okay? My parents are looking a little impatient now._ Santana laughed before saying her goodbyes and hanging up the phone to go and visit with her parents.

* * *

"Sorry about that, my wife was checking in." Rachel apologized to the doctor who had sat down on the stool at the computer in the room.

"That's quite alright. My name is Dr. Blair." Rachel and Stephanie responded in greeting to the doctor. "I was told that someone had a little spill earlier. Now, which one of these cuties is Sierra?" The doctor looked back and forth between the girls. If Sierra hadn't of turned her head into Rachel's stomach, he would be able to tell who was who.

"This one is Sierra. She got a bump on the head from falling into a chair." Rachel turned Sierra around in her lap so that she could face the doctor.

Dr. Blair moved over to where Rachel was sitting on the exam table with Sierra. "Hi little one." Dr. Blair stuck his hand out to shake Sierra's hand. The little girl scowled but reached out and smacked her hand against Dr. Blair's. "Close enough." He chuckled. "Can I see your boo boo?" Dr. Blair pointed to the spot on his head where he could see the deep bruise forming on the little girl.

"No boo." Sierra said as she tried to turn back around in Rachel's lap. Rachel held Sierra in place, they needed to get her checked out sooner rather than later.

"How about this? Would you let my friend Penny check you out?" Dr. Blair pulled a little stuffed penguin from his white lab coat pocket. Rachel could see the head of a pen light stuck under the penguins arm. Dr. Blair turned it on and slowly moved the pen back and forth in front of Sierra's eyes. She tracked the penguin easily, looking at it curiously. That wasn't a giraffe! But it was still an animal..an animal that she now wanted. "Her pupils aren't dilated and she can easily follow Penny, both are very good signs. Now I really hate to do this but I want to make sure there aren't any tender spots around the area." Dr. Blair looked up at Rachel and then over to Stephanie, silently asking for permission to touch Sierra's head.

Rachel braced herself for the scream that she knew was about to happen as she gently rested her hands on Sierra's cheeks. Dr. Blair gently touched the bruised area, cringing when Sierra did in fact let out a very loud scream. However, he knew that what he was feeling was just another good sign. "About how far did she fall?"

"Not even a foot really. She was running around with some other kids, lost her balance and tried to catch herself on the chair, but she missed." Stephanie explained.

"Did she hit her head again on the floor or anything?" Dr. Blair was now making notes in Sierra's chart as Rachel tried to sooth the little girl back down.

"No. When she hit the chair, she kind of sank to her knees is the best way I can explain it." Stephanie was rocking Samara back and forth. She had to focus on something else since this was the first time that Rachel was hearing the finer details of how Sierra got hurt.

"She's been acting normal ever since? No falling in and out of sleep at random moments?" Dr. Blair continued to write.

"Nope. But she did start yawning very quickly like she all of a sudden got super tired, but I really think it was just because she wore herself out crying." Stephanie looked over at Sierra who was now resting her head on Rachel's shoulder looking at her with a small smile.

"I'm going to have to agree with you. I don't feel like she needs a head CT at the moment. I didn't feel any soft spots, she's alert, she's responsive, her pupils are good. I think she just needs some good Mommy snuggles and maybe some baby Tylenol to relieve the pain." Dr. Blair stood up from the stool and closed Sierra's chart. "I hate to leave so soon, but I know you guys are ready to get out of here and I know a lot of other people are as well. I will let the nurse know that Miss Sierra here is ready to go."

"Thank you Dr. Blair." Rachel and Stephanie shook the doctors hand before he left. They both breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, we can get back to Mami and she won't have to come here." Rachel rubbed Sierra's back, thankful that everything was fine and they could get back to their regular schedule of a night.

"When we get back to the art show, I can leave the girls with you and Santana for while if you want. I am sure Nicky and Rich are more than ready to make the first trip back to the home with the little ones." Stephanie offered as she gathered the girls belongings into their diaper bag. Samara had gotten down from her lap and was investigating the stool that the doctor had been setting on.

"I think Santana would love that. She probably needs a break from walking the gallery floor. I should call her back too, let her know that we will be on our way in a few minutes." Rachel responded as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Santana's number. She was so happy that they would be able to return to the show, the girls should be able to spend some time with their Mami tonight too. It was the one thing she had been most looking forward to about the show in the first place besides helping to raise money for the home of course.


	75. Visiting The Grandparents

Within a few minutes of Dr. Blair leaving a nurse had came in and discharged Sierra. Now, Rachel, Stephanie and the twins were making their way back across town to the art show. Both girls had fallen asleep in their car seats as soon as the van was started. It had definitely been a long evening and Rachel was more than ready to get back to her wife and spend some time with the girls before they too had to head back to the home. Speaking of which as they pulled up behind the art gallery, Nicky was already waiting outside to take over. He was up first in making trips back to the home so that the babies could have an evening snack and get to bed.

"How is she? Is everything okay?" Nicky asked with worry as he opened the side doors on the van to get the girls out.

"She's fine. No CT scan was needed or anything. He said just to give her plenty of snuggles and some baby Tylenol to deal with the pain." Stephanie smiled as Sierra stirred at being lifted out of her car seat. Nicky immediately cuddled the little girl to his chest while Rachel set about getting Samara out of her car seat as well. "Santana is waiting in the green room for you guys. She's been crazy busy working the floor so that she can get away for a while."

"Yay! Are you ready to go see Mami?" Rachel asked Samara as the little girl looked around widely trying to gather her bearings. It took a moment for her to realize that she was in Rachel's arms and back at the art show. Samara smiled sleepily before laying her head down on Rachel's shoulder as they entered into the art gallery.

* * *

Santana was helping Rich pack up diaper bags when Rachel, Nicky and Stephanie walked in. Santana immediately gave Rachel and Samara a kiss before reaching for Sierra. It felt good to have one of her favorite tiny humans in her arms again. She would have grabbed for Samara too but the tiny tot was on her way back to dream land on Rachel's shoulder. Santana looked around the green room, studying it's actual greenness. There were various chairs and a couch lined up against the wall with a coffee table in front of it. Santana walked over to the couch and sat down with Sierra, the little girl immediately straddling Santana's lap and resting her head on her chest.

"I have some news to tell you." Santana said as Rachel joined them on the couch with Samara. "Our parents are planning on coming back here in a few minutes."

"Oh boy, you two better wake up then." Rachel paused and looked down at Samara and then over at Sierra. "Your grandparents have never all been in the same room at the same time with you girls. They're going to pass you around like newborns."

Santana laughed as she rubbed soothing circles on Sierra's back. The little girl looked up at her with big brown eyes. "Mami."

Rachel turned to look at Santana with wide eyes. Santana was looking at Sierra with wide eyes. Sierra was just smiling away, happy with her new word. "Yes baby?" Santana asked, trying to keep her voice from cracking from emotion.

"Cup?" Sierra held out her hand waiting for the item.

"Cup...you want a sippy cup? Did she finish her milk at the doctors office?" Santana asked Rachel as she leaned forward and opened the diaper bag that Stephanie had sat down on the coffee table. She held her arm protectively around Sierra's back to keep her from falling off of her lap.

"Yeah, but she has a juice in the little ice box too. That other cup of milk in there is Samara's." Santana nodded her head at Rachel's words while unzipping the top of the ice box and pulling out Sierra's Nubby filled with juice. She absolutely loved this diaper bag with it's little ice box compartment. All you had to do was remove the ice packs from their pouches, freeze them and you had a perfect spot to keep at least four bottles or in this case sippy cups with flip straws, without them going bad. Nobody liked warm drinks, especially the twins.

Sierra took a long drink of her juice as soon as Santana handed it to her before sighing heavily and leaning back against Santana's chest. She laughed at herself when she released a tiny burp thanks to Santana patting her on the back gently. "Was that good baby?" Santana laughed along with Sierra. "Can Mami have a drink?" Santana opened her mouth. Sierra shook her head clearly catching on to Santana's question. Santana gasped in surprise. "You're not going to share with Mami?" Again Sierra shook her head in the negative. Santana playfully tickled Sierra on the sides making the baby laugh out loud and momentarily forgetting her headache.

"Knock Knock." Shelby said as she opened the door to the green room. "Can we come in?"

"Yeah, you and everyone else behind you can come in too." Rachel projected her voice so that everyone behind Shelby would be able to hear her too. She shook her head as all of the grandparents filed in and sat down randomly around the room. "Okay girls." Rachel and Santana turned the twins around on their laps to face their grandparents. "I don't know what everyone wants to be called, but all of these people are your grandparents and they are going to love you and spoil you and probably make you meaner than you already are."

Samara tilted her head back to look up at Rachel. "Mama, go?" She asked pointing at everyone and attempting to wiggle down out of Rachel's lap.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked confused. Samara turned and looked back at Rachel before smiling and making her way over to Leroy.

"Hi cutie." Leroy greeted. Samara just stood there looking at him before laughing and placing both of her hands over her eyes. Rachel wasn't sure if she was being bashful or face palming at her grandparents. Either way, that was the start of Samara casually walking around in front of her grandparents, never interacting with each for more than a few seconds before moving onto the next.

"I have no idea what she is doing." Santana mumbled to herself. Sierra had yet to show any interest in getting down, which was odd since she was usually the more talkative and active one. However, she obviously still wasn't feeling well and was content to just hang out with her Mami and observe her sister. That was fine with Santana, she was just as content to sit and hold Sierra especially since their time together this afternoon would be coming to a close soon.

Stephanie had came in the room at one point while Samara was playing with her grandparents to announce that she and Nicky were taking the first group of kids back to the home. It was getting later than they had anticipated and they had to make sure the babies were on their way to sleep before Nicky came back for another group. There was still a good two hours left of the show, but Stephanie was right, the little ones needed their snack and to head to bed. Santana and Rachel both realized in that moment how truly lucky they were that Stephanie was breaking the rules by letting Sierra and Samara stay at the show for a little while longer.

"Do you want to go see your grandparents before you have to go?" Santana asked Sierra, looking at the clock and realizing that soon Nicky would be back to take a group of older kids back to the home. She really wanted Sierra to interact at least a little bit with her grandparents. Sierra seemed to think about what Santana was asked before she hesitantly slid down out of Santana's lap, sippy cup in hand and went to join her sister.

Rachel scooted closer to Santana and rested her head on her shoulder. "Look at them. They're so cute." Rachel sighed happily as she watched Samara giving kisses to Shelby and Cassie while standing on Cassie's lap. Sierra had taken a great interest in Maribel and Marcus, she had even offered Maribel a drink from her sippy. Santana was only mildly offended.

"I know and they're going to be ours, no they are ours." Santana tilted her head so that her cheek was resting on the crown of Rachel's head.

"I wonder how many more paintings have sold since we've been back here?" Rachel thought aloud.

"I don't know. We can find Denise and check with her when we go back out." Santana assured Rachel. She was sure a good portion of the paintings had sold, plus they still had plenty of time left tonight.

"We need to go back out there soon, this is still your show you know?" Rachel giggled.

"Yeah. But I just want to stay back here until the girls leave. We probably won't be able to see them for a few days after tonight. You have work and we have doctor's appointments for the case plan and meetings with the adoption agency. They're going to run us ragged before we get to bring the girls home." Santana sighed heavily, the more she thought about it, the more overwhelmed she was beginning to feel. In addition to all of that, they still had wedding planning and the ongoing court case with Jasper. Life was just a bumpy road at the moment.

"It will be definitely be worth it in the long run." Rachel smiled up at Santana. "Oh, I was meaning to ask. Did anyone say anything about the girls calling us Mama?"

Santana shook her head. "I don't think as many people heard us as we thought."

"I think the ones that might have heard, just went with it. We've not heard anything since Santana told us about it earlier tonight. From what I've seen, that whole room of people out there is only interested in the art, which is the way it should be." Marcus said as he opened a lollipop for Sierra who sat perched on his knee.

Santana inwardly groaned, that child was going to be a sticky mess. Her brand new dress was about to be ruined. Quickly Santana dug through the diaper bag and pulled out a bib. She took quick strides across the room to reach Sierra in time. Marcus chuckled with a sheepish grin as Santana playfully scowled at him for offering the lollipop to Sierra. "I hope you have another one in your jacket pocket, because as soon as Samara sees it she is going to want one too." At the mention of her name, Samara turned her head quickly, her eyes zoning in on the lollipop that Sierra was eating. She wanted one too! "See, look at her. She knows and now she wants one."

"Well she can have one too." Marcus dug around in his jacket, pulling out a blue lollipop and passing it across the room until it reached Cassie's hands so that she could pass it off to Shelby to open.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, everyone turned to look as Rich entered with a saddened expression on his face. "It's time to go. We're parked out front this time since the show is starting to wind down a bit." Santana looked down at her watch, there was only about forty-five minutes of the show left. Her eyes widened in alarm, had they really been back here that long? She really needed to get back out there, shake some hands, meet some new buyers and thank everyone that was still here that she hadn't thanked earlier. To everyone she had missed, she would send them apology letters with thank you cards for attending. "The crew is looking for you too, they want to film a few shots before they wrap up tonight." Rich informed everyone as he helped Rachel pack the girls diaper bag back up. The crew, turns out, had been outside filming some of the people coming in at the start of the night, Santana hadn't even seen them. Her mind had been elsewhere at the time though, so it was excusable.

"Can we walk them out with you?" Rachel asked Rich hopefully.

"Of course you can." Rich smiled politely, he couldn't even begin to understand how hard this must be for Santana and Rachel. Therefore, he would do whatever he could to help make the visit endings just a little bit better. He watched the women with sad eyes as they each took a twin and held them out to each grandparent for a hug and a kiss. He left the room after that, giving them all a moment to themselves before he made his way towards the front of the gallery, Santana and Rachel both following close behind a moment after.

* * *

**Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates today! Thank you for all of the views, reviews, favorites and follows. I appreciate you guys so much.**


	76. Talking Totals

Santana stood next to Denise as the last painting was loaded into a black Escalade. It was Monday morning and Santana had came down to the art gallery to see if there was anything left from the show on Saturday. Turns out, there wasn't. Denise had held true to her promise and opened the gallery Sunday morning for anyone who had missed the show and every last painting had now been sold. Santana couldn't be more proud of the children and everything that they accomplished.

After they got past all the bumps at the beginning of the night things really started to run smoothly. Santana and Rachel along with their parents, had stepped up their game and really worked the floor, selling paintings and talking to people about the children's homes in New York. Some of the kids including Ashley and Rj had met various people who now had them on their radars looking for new paintings. They had far surpassed their goal for the night and Santana was more than glad that every child in a home this year was going to have an amazing Christmas thanks to the art show.

Santana crossed her arms over her chest as she turned around to walk back into the gallery. Being here made her miss the twins after all the time they were able to spend together Saturday night. Santana really really missed her girls. She and Rachel had a meeting with the twins social worker and a doctors appointment Wednesday, it was just easier to get everything done in one day. Hopefully they would get some good news about the adoption. Maybe, if it was even possible, they could get an overnight visit. Santana didn't have high hopes for anything like that yet, they had to have their first home study before that could happen.

Santana wandered through the art gallery a moment before she found Denise in her office sorting checks and making a note of the final money count before the lawyers showed up to collect it all. "What's the final total, boss?" Santana asked as she sat down in a brown leather chair across from Denise's desk.

"Well, total earnings from the paintings is three million, four hundred fifteen thousand, eight hundred, fifty two dollars and zero cents. Donation totals is an even six million, five hundred thousand. So, all together, almost ten million dollars." Denise replied while looking at her calculator.

"So that means that St. Lawrence gets roughly six million and the rest of the homes will get about one hundred, thirty thousand a piece?" Santana thought out loud as she tried to figure out just home many children's homes there was in New York.

"Something like that." Denise nodded her head. She wasn't sure on the exact numbers, the lawyers were going to be the ones to figure all of that out. "Do these other homes even know they are receiving a donation like this?"

"Not that I know of. It's supposed to be a surprise early Christmas present for them." Santana grinned. "If everything clears in time, they may get it early enough for Thanksgiving."

"That would be great for them. Speaking of the holiday's, are you and Rachel doing anything for Halloween? It is next weekend you know."

Santana thought about it for a moment before she answered. "Rachel and I haven't even talked about it. I don't know if Puck is doing his annual Halloween party and trunk or treat at the studio this year. They've been just enjoying life with a new baby."

"Oh my, yesss. I seen Davis at the art show Saturday night. He was so cute. I only seen them once though, I don't think they stayed long." Denise gushed as she thought about seeing Davis in his little make-shift suit and tie. Seeing these babies lately was really starting to give her baby fever.

Santana leaned forward, grabbing a tissue and waving it in Denise's face. "Here, your baby fever drool is about to get all over your desk." She laughed before sitting back into her chair.

"Oh hush you. I can't help it. Seeing Davis and the twins and all of the other babies from the home was cuteness overload. I just wish Evan was home so we could talk about kids again." Denise sighed sadly. Corporal Evan Sanders was her husband of three years now. He was the most amazing man that she could ever ask for, however his career kept him away from home a lot, especially at the moment.

"How long until he comes home this time?" Santana asked as she looked over at one of the pictures of the couple on Denise's desk. It was a picture of Evan and Denise kissing on one of his welcome home days after a six month tour in Iraq.

"Two months. I told him I didn't want anything for Christmas other than him coming home." Denise smiled, she was so excited to have her husband back in her arms soon.

"So you've got to speak to him lately?" Santana knew that sometimes Denise had to go days and even weeks without talking to Evan.

"Yeah, he was able to call last night actually. I don't know his exact location because of security, but I know he's okay and doing good. When he gets home, we are going to be having a long talk. We've been together four years, married three and we have really only spent about two and a half years of that being _physically_ _together_. The first time I met him, he was about to go to Afghanistan." Denise laughed at herself. "That was the first time I ever gave a guy my phone number and email address."

"I know one thing, if a job is something he is worried about if he comes off active duty, I will talk to some of my security and help him find something. All of Duncan's guys are former some type of military." Santana shrugged her shoulders. She knew that a lot of men and women stayed on active duty for that little bit of a pay raise, if she could help she was going to.

"You would really do that for him? I know that is a real fear of his, especially if he was to get hurt and was discharged." Denise honestly had tears in her eyes.

"Of course I would." Santana furrowed her brows like what Denise was asking was ridiculous. "I consider you to be family and that makes him family too. I'll talk to Duncan, Sue, Puck, whoever I can to get him something. I can see it in your face how much you miss him and wish he was here with you so you two can start your family and just be together. When you speak to him again, ask him if he's interested. We can set something up for him as soon as he gets home."

"Thank you Santana. I just...thank you. I don't know what else to say."

"You don't have to say anything." Santana reached across the desk and placed her hands on top of Denise's giving them a firm squeeze.

* * *

Santana pulled up in front of her cabin at around three in the afternoon, she was excited to be home because Rachel was due home at any time now. Santana had waited around with Denise until the lawyers showed up to pick up the donation money. Being the spearhead of the event meant that Santana and Denise both had to sign off saying that the amount of money on the deposit slip was the exact amount collected from the event and that it was all there in full. The lawyers didn't have anything to worry about anyway, Denise was one of the most honest women that Santana knew especially when it came to handling money at her art gallery. Never once in the time that Santana and Denise had been working together did the woman try to cheat her out of any profit. She would even offer Santana a higher percentage of her earnings after every show. Santana would politely decline, stating that Denise had done the set up, the programs and the after show clean up, she deserved every bit of the thirty percent that Santana paid her. Denise had joked one time that she didn't need that much because she was still living off of her cut from a previous shows earnings. Santana had joked right back telling her that if she didn't want the money then she could give it to her staff by raising their pay again...and she did. Let's just say that Denise's staff was well taken care of, even if they only worked part time.

Climbing out of her jeep, Santana noticed several large boxes sitting on her front porch. What in the world..she thought to herself as she slowly walked up the steps. It took her a moment to realize that it was the girls bedroom sets. They had came way earlier than she had expected! Duncan must have received them at the gate and then brought them up one box at a time with his golf cart. This was one of the many reasons that Duncan was a great guy. When they were expecting deliveries of any kind they would give the information to Duncan so that he could accept them if they weren't home.

"Guess I know what Rachel and I are doing tonight." Santana mumbled to herself as she unlocked her front door and stepped inside. She was immediately love attacked by Dax and Dahlia. They were both ready to play now that their master was home. Santana dropped to her knees laughing as she was smothered in doggy kisses. It didn't matter how long she or Rachel was gone, the dogs always acted the same when they came home. "Guys, guys, guys, calm down. I will get you some food and we can go outside and play until Mama comes home." Santana said as she tried to keep her mouth shut since Dax was determined to lick her face. Dahlia was getting bigger, however she was still in her clumsy puppy stage and was struggling to climb up Santana's front.

After a moment, Dax and Dahlia finally settled down enough so that Santana could stand back up and make her way into the kitchen. She walked over to the pantry were she kept the dog food and dished out two portions, she laughed as Dax and Dahlia both attacked their bowls like they were starving. After both dogs were on the better part of being almost done eating, Santana walked back out into the living room before making her way into what would become the twins bedroom. She sighed as she looked around, there was still several things that needed to be moved out of here. Thinking quick on her feet, Santana grabbed her phone and dialed Puck's number. She and Rachel were going to need help and Puck was the perfect guy.

_What's up LB?_

"LB? What's that?" Santana asked puzzled, she hadn't even had a chance to say hi yet and Puck was already being his usual self.

_It's your new last name. I was testing it out. Anyway, what's up? _

"Listen, the twins beds and dressers came today and I need help. I'll pay you with dinner if you and Quinn aren't busy this evening?" Santana bit her lip as she waited for Puck to answer.

_Uhhh, I don't think we have anything going on. But, let me call and find out and I will let you know. That cool? I know Beth asked just this morning if she could come down for a while sometime this week and Quinn and I would both be relieved to have a night off from cooking._

"Hey, I told you that if you needed anything to let me or Rachel know and we would get some more stuff together for you." Santana frowned into the phone even though Puck couldn't see her.

_You know I hate asking for help San._

"I know, but you're not asking this time. I am telling you, I will get some more stuff together for you guys. Just have Quinn bring me a list tonight if you can make it."

_Okay. Let me text her real quick and I will let you know._

"Alright, I suppose I should check in with Rachel too, but I know we don't have any plans tonight, at least none that I know about." Santana probably should have checked with Rachel first, but she knew it would be okay. Rachel was always down for spending time with the Puckerman-Fabray's. Santana waited a moment before she and Puck exchanged goodbye's. Before doing anything else, she called Rachel and asked her about having dinner guests tonight, of course Rachel was immediately excited and offered to pick up anything that they might need on her way home.

Santana assured her that they had plenty of stuff at the house to choose from, just as her phone beeped alerting her to a text message. _7 okay? I think Q was about to cry tears of joy, she's really looking forward to some hangout time with you and Rach. _

_Sounds perfect._ Santana texted back before she laid down her phone on the kitchen island. She bit her lip in thought, she had to take the dogs out and get them settled before starting dinner. The only issue she had now was deciding what to make.


	77. Building The Nursery

Santana tossed the wooden slat to her left as she wiped her brow with her right hand. "Puck, I swear these instructions are in Italian. Where in the hell did Rachel and I actually order these beds from?" Santana furrowed her brows as she looked around the guest room, soon to be twins nursery. It had taken she and Puck about an hour to finish clearing out the room and now they were in the process of putting the beds together. Rachel, Quinn, Beth and Davis were in the living room, momentarily entertaining themselves.

"I don't know San, but it can't be that hard. We've put beds together before and they're still standing." Puck shrugged his shoulders as he propped up the white headboard against the wall. "Let's get this one put together tonight and then we can do the rest tomorrow. I will come over in the morning after I take Beth to school."

"I want it all done tonight." Santana snapped before she looked up apologetically. "I'm sorry, I just want to get their room set up as soon as possible." She added in a softer tone.

"I get it, but we had a big dinner and it's getting kind of late. You're stressing and that's okay, but I promise we will get this done in time for the home study." Puck walked over and sank to his knees next to Santana. He could tell something was bothering her. "What's going on?"

"I just...I want this to be perfect for them and it's already getting off to a bad start. If I can't put a bed together for them, what else can't I do?" Santana mumbled as she picked at her cuticles.

"Stop. You're going to be an amazing mother. I've told you this before. Like you said, these instructions are in a foreign language." Puck picked up the book of instructions and tossed them over his shoulder. "We will figure it out and they will love their new beds, in their new room with two of the most amazing women on this planet, okay?"

"Okay. I'm trusting you on this." Santana looked up, still with a small frown on her face.

"Don't put all of your trust in me. You have to trust yourself too, San. As a parent with some experience under my belt, I can say you're going to make mistakes. It's going to happen." Puck looked at the door of the room. Santana could only imagine the guilt Puck carried for the times he had put work before his family. "But you talk about it, you make it up to them and you earn that forgiveness. Nobody is perfect and I don't care how high and mighty some people like to act, there is no such thing as the perfect parent. You and Rachel are going to be fine. Now stop letting a bed defeat you and make you think you are going to be a shitty parent, because it's not true."

"Thanks Puck." Santana gave him a small smile. Santana turned to open a bag of screws, nuts and bolts. "Let's get this put together so we can actually hang out before you have to leave."

* * *

Santana stood in the doorway of the twins nursery admiring her and Puck's work. Sure they only had one bed put together, but it was a start. "You two done good. It looks great." Rachel said as she walked up behind Santana and wrapped the woman in a hug.

"You really think so?" Santana asked as she turned her head slightly to try and see Rachel.

"I do. I can't wait until it's all finished. Do you want me to help you put something else together or are you done for the night? You changed your mind about letting me help earlier." Rachel pouted as she rested her head on Santana's back.

"I know, I'm sorry. Quinn really needed some adult time though and you are her best friend. Besides, don't lie and say you didn't enjoy all the Davis bonding you got to experience tonight. I swear that baby is in love with you." Santana laughed lightly.

"You're her best friend too you know. I mean she was your friend before she was mine and yes, Davis was exceptionally cuddly tonight with me." Rachel closed her eyes as a small smile appeared on her face. Davis had clung to Rachel ever since he came through the front door in his carrier. Beth didn't mind that Davis was getting most of the attention from her Aunt's because that meant she got to just chill with her mom.

"That may be true, but Quinn and I don't do the the super close talking stuff, at least not willingly, unless it's something super important and even then we kind of have to pull it out of each other." Santana scrunched up her nose in thought. "We should have Beth come spend the weekend with us. I would say Davis too, but I don't know how well a one month old would take being away from his parents for a night."

"We could have him over for the day though, give Quinn and Puck a bit of a break, you know?" Rachel was excited at the prospect of having both of the kids over for the day.

"I can ask Puck in the morning when he comes back over." Santana turned and leaned against the doorway, pulling Rachel to her front. "So, would you like to help me put something together, I already have the pieces laid out for the white set?"

"I would love to help." Rachel stood on her tip toes in order to give Santana a kiss. After a moment she began to deepen it as Santana ran her hands down Rachel's back. She rested her hands just above Rachel's butt.

"We're not going to get anything done if you kiss me like that again." Santana breathed deeply when Rachel broke the kiss.

"I would say I am sorry, but that would be a lie." Rachel laughed as she took Santana's hand and pulled her into the room. She stopped and turned in a circle looking around. "We have their beds and dressers, we have matching shelves on the way..do we need to get a changing table too?"

"Hmmm, I don't really think so. They rarely get changed on the ones at the home because they like to wiggle so much. We already ordered changing pillows and we can order a special storage thing for their diapers and stuff, like there's one I saw that can hang on a door. It's got a spot for the wipes at the top and under that is where you put the diapers and pull them out like a dispenser. I think it holds fifty diapers on each side. Also all the storage pockets are double, so Sierra's stuff can go on one side and Samara's on the other." Santana said as she looked around the room, much like Rachel had been doing. Even though they had the basic furniture taken care of, there were still so many things that the girls would need, like car seats, which they had yet to order. It wasn't that they had forgotten, it was just that Shuebury's was in the process of expanding their store to include a new all inclusive baby section. Car seats was supposed to be one of the main new items and Santana and Rachel wanted to see what they would be getting before ordering the car seats online.

"I think that will work. We can hang it on the back of the door or one of the closet doors." Rachel shrugged her shoulders as she pondered the options. "Now, let's get started on this dresser so that I can take you to bed soon." Rachel gave Santana a smoldering look before pulling her to the floor so that they could start working.

* * *

"LOPEZ! UP AND AT 'EM!" Puck yelled as he banged on the front door of the cabin. It was roughly ten in the morning and Puck was ready to work. He knew what getting these bedroom sets put together for the twins would mean to Rachel and Santana, so he wanted to get them done as soon as possible. Just as Puck was about to pound on the door again, it swung open revealing a disheveled looking Santana.

"Must you be so loud? You're lucky I don't have neighbors." Santana grumbled as she pulled her robe tighter around herself while walking into the kitchen. She smiled at the fresh coffee that was sitting on the counter waiting for her.

"What's up with you? Eegh, you look like you had a rough night." Puck cringed, showing his teeth.

"Oh...I had a real rough night." Santana smirked as she pushed a cup of coffee across the kitchen island towards Puck.

"Wha...oh..ohhhhh...hot..no wait..ew. You're my sister." Puck made a horrified face about what had just been implied.

Santana laughed to herself before taking a sip of her coffee. "Shut up. Are you hungry?" Santana asked quickly, giving no room for Puck to go back on his word and possibly ask for details. He may be a grown man, but he still had teenage hormonal tendencies sometimes.

"I could eat. I need something to soak up this coffee, otherwise..." Puck trailed off. It was a known fact that coffee done a number on multiple peoples stomachs.

"Please, say no more." Santana held up her hand in order to get him to hush. "I will fix you something to soak all that coffee up. I don't want you stinking up my baby girl's bedroom or my bathroom." Puck chuckled as he watched Santana quickly begin to move around the kitchen gathering things to make something that would be out of this world. Hey, at least he got a free breakfast out of all the work he was about to be doing.

"I seen Rachel when I left the studio this morning. Didn't get to talk to her though, she was going straight into a writing session with Joe and Brock." Puck said before he took a sip of his coffee. Gosh, Rachel and Santana always had the best coffee. There was just something about it that no matter how many times he tried to replicate it at home, he always fell short.

"Yeah, it was supposed to actually be tomorrow, but we have a meeting with the twins social worker and the adoption agency and we have doctors appointments in the morning." Santana turned from where she was standing in front of the counter chopping up onions. She was going to make a breakfast hash, served with a fried egg and some home made salsa on top.

"That's why you wanted to get their beds done today. Do you think they will push the home study if they know that the girls room is almost done?" Puck asked while arching his eyebrow.

"It's possible. But I do know that before anything else, we have to get any and all test results back from the doctor's appointment, so nothing is going to happen for at least a week or so. We'll find out more about what exactly they want from us tomorrow." Santana sighed as she tossed the diced onions into a skillet with some pre-cooked diced potatoes. Yes, before you ask, she done all the precooking.

"What else could they possibly want from you?!" Puck raised his hands in the air in outrage. Sometimes it felt like this adoption was going to be drug out far more than it needed to be. "You have already been approved, you turned in all of your paperwork, with far too much information in my opinion. I mean you had to give them medical histories, tax returns, projected earnings for the next year...it's just...it's not fair. You two are perfect for these girls and they're perfect for you, but it's like they are trying to find any reason not to give them to you."

"That's how it works though. Believe me, no one is more frustrated by all of this more than Rachel and I. They want to make sure that we can take care of the girls in all forms, I get it. The only thing the approval meant was that we look good on paper and the social worker liked us. Now we have to prove to her and everyone else that we mean business, the twins were almost adopted before, but the couple didn't complete the case plan. We don't know exactly how they didn't complete it, just that they didn't." Santana explained to Puck. "I mean, I feel bad they didn't get the children they wanted to adopt, but I am grateful they didn't get to adopt them because now Rachel and I get them." Santana smiled once she had finished talking.

"Either way, I hope that you both get some good news tomorrow." Puck leaned forward onto the island as Santana slid a plat of food in front of him.

"Me too, now let's eat up so we can get to work. We're taking pictures when we get done with the room. Rachel and I want to show it off at our meeting tomorrow." Santana turned off the stove and began to fix her plate. She needed to eat quickly so that she could change out of her pajamas and get started immediately on finishing the twins nursery with Puck.


	78. Just A Few Weeks

Santana sighs happily as she looks at the pictures in her hands. She had taken several of the nursery once she and Puck had finished putting together the other bed and dresser before moving both beds into place. It had taken them a good portion of the afternoon, nonetheless, they were finished right when Rachel walked through the door from work. Santana couldn't help thinking about the squeal Rachel had let out when she seen that the room was done. It was absolutely perfect. Both beds sat in roughly the same spot in the middle of the room where the old big bed sat, there was enough space between them and on each side for night stands. One dresser sat to the left of the closet doors that were on the left side of the room, while the other sat opposite underneath the window. There was still plenty of room left on the back wall behind the door for the shelves they had ordered and now that Santana thought about it, there was also room to get each girl a trunk to put at the end of the beds. Those might have to wait a while, as they posed too much of a climbing threat at the moment. They didn't need anything that the girls could potentially fall off of when their room was supposed to be their biggest safe place to play.

"Do you think these will help us out at all?" Santana asked as she turned to hand the pictures back to Rachel. The woman was seated in the passenger seat of Santana's jeep. It was Wednesday morning and they had just left the doctor's office where they had had a series of tests done.

"I don't know babe. They might. We just have to see what Alison and Mercedes say." Rachel gripped Santana's hand that was resting on the center console of the jeep. "Do you think they will mention Sierra's incident at the art gallery? I mean she was there to see us when it happened."

"To be fair, they weren't just there to see us. They were there also because the show was about them and the home they have been raised in. I don't see how that can penalize us when we weren't there yet when it happened. They were under Stephanie's care during that time." Santana couldn't help but to get a little snarky with her last comment. She knew Stephanie wasn't to blame, babies can be wild sometimes and they can get hurt in the split second it takes you to blink. But why didn't Stephanie or anyone with a bit of authority that was there at the time tell them to stop running sooner? The fall could have been prevented had anyone been paying better attention.

"Santana..." Rachel sighed. She wasn't about to have this argument, especially right before they went in to see Alison and Mercedes.

"I know, I know. It's just..those are our babies and it's our job to protect them. It broke my heart to see her in so much pain and I couldn't do anything about it." Santana shook her head, she still felt guilty over the fact that she couldn't go with Sierra to the doctor that night.

"But, you did do something about it. When we got back you held her and snuggled with her. She was with you all night until she finally got brave enough to visit with our parents. Those moments when it was just you and her, made her night." Rachel smiled sadly. She knew that Santana let things bother her for a long time after they happened, this was just one of those things.

"They kind of made my night as well, besides raising so much money for the children and being there with you of course." Santana gave a cheeky grin.

"Of course." Rachel laughed as she tossed her head against the headrest of her seat. "Are you ready to go in now and see what Mercedes and Alison have to say?"

"Yeah, let's go." Santana replied with a confident nod as she reluctantly let go of Rachel's hand. It was only for a moment as she happily laced her fingers with Rachel's as they walked into Mercedes office.

* * *

Santana looked around the bright lobby of Mercedes office. It was a small place, but the numerous windows made it look bigger with all the bright light coming in. There were several chairs against the walls of the room and a large brown oak desk where Mercedes secretary sat. "We have a one o'clock meeting with Ms. Jones." Santana told the secretary. She smiled when the older African American woman smiled back.

"Mrs and Mrs. Berry Lopez, I presume?" The woman asked as she adjusted her glasses on her face.

"Yes, ma'm." Rachel replied with a smile of her own.

"You can go on back, she and Ms. Hall are waiting for you." Santana and Rachel both thanked the woman before walking to the right of the desk and down the hallway. They knocked once on the door and waited for the okay to come in.

* * *

Mercedes and Alison were sitting at Mercedes desk discussing Santana and Rachel's case. They were aware that both women were very serious about adopting the twins and to be honest, they were ecstatic. It felt like everything that could go wrong had already went wrong before, several times in fact. This time around though, things were going to be different. These girls were going to the best home possible for them. Now the two women just had to tell Rachel and Santana that. Mercedes looked up when she heard a knock on her door, looking at the clock, she knew it could only be two people on the other side. "Come in." Mercedes said loud enough for whoever was out there to hear.

"Hello." Rachel greeted as she came into the room, leading Santana by the hand.

"Good afternoon, ladies." Mercedes smiled in greeting as she stood up to shake Rachel and Santana's hands.

"How are you two?" Alison asked as the women sat down and made themselves comfortable in the large brown leather chairs that sat in front of Mercedes desk.

"We're great actually...a little nervous." Rachel gave a sheepish grin.

"Ah, there's nothing to be nervous about. We just wanted to have a chat and check in, see how things were going on your end of the adoption." Alison waved in a circular motion before resting it on her arm chair and propping up her head.

"Things are...progressing, I guess. We've just been getting things together for the eventual home visit coming up. We had our doctors appointment this morning, as you know." Santana rattled off.

"Yes. I already received a copy of the release forms for the drug tests. The other release form won't be signed until the results come back and you're cleared. It's a formality just in case something was to come back. It gives you both time to...cope...deal with...take care of...anything that may be wrong. I'm not saying there will be, it's just you know, just in case. We would hate for something to be wrong and we hear about it before either of you." Mercedes felt like she was struggling to explain all of this, she was a lawyer for goodness sake. She could talk herself out of a wet paper bag if she needed to, but she just couldn't find the right words today for some reason.

"We understand. We're confident though that everything they tested for will be clear. We get regular check ups and we had several tests done when we started volunteering at the home." Rachel laughed a little as she assured Mercedes and Alison that they were both healthy as a horse.

"So tell us more about getting things together for the home visit?" Alison asked with excited eyes. This was probably one of her favorite things about being a social worker. When soon to be parents started preparing for children to come home they sometimes went a little over board.

"Well." Rachel pulled out the pictures that Santana had handed her in the jeep. "Their bedroom is all set up. It's not decorated yet, but Santana is working on how to incorporate both bed colors without their room being...too loud. We have tons of clothes ordered for them to fill their dressers and closet. A few things we would prefer to let them pick out, you know like their cups and eating utensils. Shuebury's is adding onto their baby section, so we are going to look at stuff like car seats and high chairs there. Like we said, it's progressing." Rachel explained she watched Mercedes and Alison look at the pictures.

"I love their bedroom sets." Alison awed over the pieces of furniture. "It sounds like you two are really getting things in order."

"We are trying to. We want them home with us as soon as possible and we figure the faster we get things together the faster that may happen." Santana explained with a bit of eagerness to her tone.

"Well, that is one of the things we wanted to talk to you two about today. There is a parent adoption meeting coming up and two spots have opened up. We thought it would be great if you two could fill those spots instead of waiting until the next one, which is next month." Alison looked to Mercedes and smiled.

"That's perfect! We would love to attend. When is it?" Rachel asked eagerly. No way was they going to wait a whole month if they didn't have to.

"It's this Friday at ten. It's at the adoption agency office over on tenth street." Alison supplied the proper information they would need.

"What exactly happens at these meetings?" Santana asked curiously. "I mean we have heard that we would have to attend these things and they are a type of support group, but what exactly happens?"

"They're just meetings to help you build up bonds with other adoptive parents. You talk about yourselves, your children, parenting advice, stuff like that." Alison shrugged her shoulders. "It's a safe place for you as parents to share your experiences and struggles of being adoptive parents. Not everyone understands how people make the decisions to take on children that are your heart babies and not tummy babies. Those people get it. The twins have one too that they will attend when they get older, right now at their age, it's just a play group though. You have to have at least one of these meetings under your belt before we can move on with the adoption."

"What exactly are you saying? Is our adoption going to be completely halted for a month if we don't go to this meeting?" Rachel furrowed her eyebrows at Mercedes and Alison. She studied them both closely, they looked like they were going to burst at the seems at any moment.

"If you wait for the next meeting then yes. However, right at this moment we're saying that with this early meeting and great tests results, pending the home visit...the girls could be with you in the time frame of a few weeks or less." Alison cheered as she finished talking. Santana and Rachel weren't sure what to say. A few weeks? The girls could be coming home to them in a few weeks? There was still so much stuff left to do, stuff to buy...how were they going to get it all done. It was extremely exciting and a bit overwhelming all at the same time.

"I can see you panicking...you have plenty of time. This is good news I swear! We'll work with you to make sure that everything is prepared." Alison was lost now. She thought the women would happy.

"Wha...what about the case plan for the home? We have to complete it too before they can come home." Santana was the first one to break the silence.

"Everything on the case plan is basically the same thing you have been doing for us. There was just one more drug test on there for before hand and they cleared that with the test you took to volunteer. You're in the process of getting everything the girls need and the rest comes after they're in your care. You're on the right path." Alison reassured both Rachel and Santana.

"Are we going to have enough time to get everything that they need? I mean a few weeks is normally equaled to three weeks or so." Rachel was still slightly panicked. It was like she was still processing everything that Alison had said.

"Babe, she said they would make sure we were prepared. They're not going to through us into the deep end of the pool knowing we don't know how to swim." Santana reached out her hand for Rachel to hold. The moment they touched hands, it was as if the world itself began to calm back down.

"We'll do progress meetings like this to see if you need more time or if Lord forbid something come back on the tests. This won't be the last you will be seeing of either of us, especially because of a minor detail that no one has mentioned yet of adoption fees." Mercedes joked lightly.

"Oof, we hadn't even thought about that part of all of this yet." Santana cringed a little. The money portion of this hadn't even crossed her mind once.

"Well seeing as we are a non-profit agency and this is a voluntary adoption, it will cost a bit more. However, the twins aren't newborns meaning that the fees are only at about six thousand. If they were newborns, you would be paying anywhere from ten grand to twenty-five." Mercedes explained.

"That's not too bad honestly, besides the girls are totally worth it." Rachel smiled as she leaned her head on Santana's shoulder. "We will discuss this more in length at our next meeting, yes?" Mercedes nodded her head at Rachel's question.

"I think that about covers everything we needed to chat about today. But before you two go, I just want to say something. We know how badly you want the girls at home with you, we want them there just as bad. So go to this meeting Friday, work on getting everything done for the home visit and I promise we will have the girls to you as soon as possible. I've been the social worker for the twins ever since they were brought into the system and I can honestly say I have never met two people more perfect for them." Alison was trying not to get emotional, but it was hard when two of your best babies was finally going home.

"I agree. You're going to be one big happy family and you all deserve it." Mercedes leaned back in her chair as she studied the two women. She knew from the beginning that things would work out for the best with these two.

"Thank you..thank you so much...for everything." Rachel and Santana stood up and hugged each woman before leaving the office. It still hadn't sunk in just how quickly everything was really moving along. They would be parents in just a few weeks. Two little ones running around the house, playing with the dogs. There was still so much left to do, but it would get done. They were going to be parents...everything just felt right in the world. Until they remembered that _they were going to be parents_, their lives were about to be totally and completely turned upside down.


	79. Painting and Prison

Santana slowly nodded her head as she looked around the nursery. It was Saturday morning and she had been up all night painting. The idea had struck her yesterday evening after she and Rachel left the adoptive parents group meeting. Instead of painting a huge mural on the walls the first thing Santana had wanted to do was bring the cabin feel into the room. This had lead her to buying various shades of brown and white paint so that she could paint wood beams with the white sealant onto the wall behind the twins bed. The next thing she had done was paint the remaining three walls in a very light chocolate mousse color. To pull the room together a little more, Santana repainted the closet doors white with the intentions of painting the girls names on there with the color of their choice. The last thing Santana had decided to do was to paint spirals and vines, with flowers varying in shades of orange and purple on the back wall of the room behind the door. In her opinion the room looked perfect, Rachel thought so too if her ooing and awing was any indication. Since Santana wouldn't let her help with anything but the primer and solid colored walls, Rachel had spent most of her time running in and out of the room checking on Santana. She knew Santana was in her element and that any question she could ask would be only answered with yeah, no, and okay. Rachel could really use that to her advantage if she truly wanted to.

"Baby?" Rachel called out as she descended the stairs. Santana had swore she would come to bed soon last night, stating that she only wanted to get one or two more things done. Rachel had been super tired last night, falling asleep instantly when she finally made it up the stairs. She assumed she had fallen into a deep sleep and just didn't feel Santana get into bed, but after waking this morning to see Santana's pajamas still laying in the window bench, she knew the woman never came to bed.

"In here." Santana walked over the door and peeped her head out of the nursery, smiling at Rachel's sleep tousled hair.

"Why didn't you come to bed?" Rachel wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped into the room and looked around at all the work Santana had gotten done. "It looks beautiful in here. The girls are going to love it."

"You think so?" Santana asked a little hesitantly.

"I know so." Rachel replied with a smile before she walked over to hug Santana's side.

"I really wanted to get this all done. I just have to make sure it's all dry before I push their beds and dressers back into place. I swear I intended to come to bed, but before I knew it the sun was coming up." Santana shrugged her shoulders as she set about cleaning up the paint cans. She was thankful that she wasn't a messy painter, cleanup was going to be a breeze.

"Good thing we don't have anything going on today. We can hang out and be lazy for the day, you also need to take a nap at some point." Rachel playfully poked Santana in the ribs.

"That makes me sound like a toddler, I don't need a nap. I will be fine until we go to bed tonight." Santana pouted up at Rachel from where she was crouched on the floor.

"Uhm..have you met yourself when you have had no sleep? Because I have and you could give the twins a run for their money when they are tired and cranky." Rachel gave Santana a little smirk as she got down on her knees to help Santana put the paints away.

"I resent that statement." Santana knocked Rachel in the shoulder, causing her to fall down. Rachel landed with a soft oomph, she looked at Santana like what she had just done was ludicrous before beginning to laugh loudly.

"I can't believe you pushed me!" Rachel exclaimed as she righted herself and sat down with her legs crossed on the hard wood floor.

"I didn't push you. I simply...nudged you. It's not my fault you can't hold your balance." Santana shrugged her shoulders before turning her back to Rachel and shuffling her paint brushes around. Rachel playfully growled before getting into a crouching position, ready to pounce on Santana. Trying to remain oblivious to what Rachel was doing, Santana bit her lip to contain her laughter. Her shoulders began to shake as she silently laughed, the noises Rachel was making was completely ridiculous sounding.

"Stop laughing at me!" Rachel yelled as she launched herself at Santana's frame, successfully tackling the Latina woman onto the floor. Santana couldn't help it anymore, her throat erupted with shrieks of laughter as Rachel began to tickle her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Stop or you are going to make me pee myself." Santana's chest heaved with laughter as she tried to squirm away from Rachel's relentless tickling. "Stoooppppp, if I pee it will ruin our floors!"

"Oh no, we can't have that now can we." Rachel laughed but nonetheless she stopped tickling Santana.

"We really can't. Because I am sure there will be incidents in the future that revolve around us running to try and clean up pee." Santana leaned back on her elbows, with Rachel hovering above her.

"That's right, the girls will start potty training soon." Rachel's eyes widened in realization.

"Let's hope they don't take after me or we will have a mess to clean up." Santana leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling.

"What did you do?" Rachel asked with a breathy chuckle. She was still trying to catch her breath from the tickle attack she had initiated. Yes, she was a singer but uncontrolled breathing is just that, _uncontrolled_.

"I was three and my mother was off of work for some reason or another and she was babysitting for a family friend. Needless to say I was jealous. I mean my mother had a day off from work and she was choosing to spend it with a kid that wasn't hers." Santana rolled her eyes at this. "Anyway, I was to the point in my potty training that I only need a diaper, I don't think pull ups were even a think then, at night. The baby must have been sick or something because it seemed like she was changing his diaper more than normal, so I thought that if I could convince her to let me wear a diaper for the day that I could be changed that often and actually get to spend some time with her. I was three this was my logical way of thinking. It made sense to me at the time."

"It makes perfect sense for a three year old." Rachel readily agreed.

"Right?! When she refused I went and got a diaper so I could diaper myself. I realized afterwards how horribly I had failed, but I was so proud of myself at the time. I went into the dining room where she was feeding the baby to show her. I had even been holding a pee in for my shining moment to get my mom to change me." Santana began to chuckle, she couldn't believe the things her little self had been capable of.

"Oh no...what happened?" Rachel had became so engrossed in the story that she was now resting in the floor beside Santana.

"I walked in there and said, look at me Mami, I diapered meself." Santana used her best baby voice. "She was shocked and told me to take it off and put my underwear back on. But did I listen? Nope. Now comes the best part, I couldn't hold it any longer and just started to go. I had messed with the tape on my diaper so much that it was barely sticky anymore, so as soon as there was a little bit of weight in it, it fell off." Rachel was full on laughing now, practically rolling in the floor.

"Santana, you didn't do what I think you did, did you?." Rachel was holding her side from laughing so hard.

"Oh I did. I was standing on her very expensive, very new Surya rug. Once my diaper fell off, I couldn't stop peeing, you know how hard it is to stop peeing mid-stream?! I peed a puddle on that rug. I wasn't remorseful at all though. I looked at the puddle and then to her before telling her that now she had to clean me up and change me, then I took off and hid. She found me in my closet. I was in time out for the rest of the day until my Abuelo came over for dinner. So of course I was saved and when she told him why I was in time out, he just laughed."

"Wow...I really hope the girls don't decide to do that. Speaking of which, should we look into getting them potties? It never hurts to introduce them to it before they actually start using them." Rachel had a thoughtful look on her face. She wanted to make sure that they covered all the bases on stuff the girls would need.

"I think we still have some time on those, but...let's clean this up and we can go to town for breakfast and maybe some shopping at Shuebury's?" Santana really wanted to go to town and see if the baby section was done at the store.

"I like the sound of that. We can save water if you hurry." Rachel gave Santana a little smirk before she jumped up out of the floor and took off towards the bathroom. It only took a moment for Santana to stand up from her position and take off after Rachel. Cleanup could wait for a little while, her wife was top priority at the moment.

* * *

Santana and Rachel were in the middle of getting dressed when Santana's cell-phone began blaring throughout the loft. She groaned quietly, why couldn't people text instead of calling all the time. Huffing Santana walked over the bedside table where her phone lay, she arched an eyebrow when she noticed that it was Sue calling.

"Hello?"

_Good morning Lopez_. Sue's unusual chipper tone sounded from the other end of the phone.

"Good morning." Santana rolled her eyes. "What's up?"

_Oh..nothing too important, just some news I needed to tell you and Rachel._ At that Santana put the phone on speaker and laid it down on the bed, motioning for Rachel to join her as she sat down.

"We're both here, what's the news?" Santana asked as she looked over at Rachel who had a curious look on her face.

_I got a call this morning from a friend of a friend who has been working closely with Jasper, Ronald, and Charles case. Basically their initial plea deals were thrown out and I wasn't notified, but that's a different story. The new plea deals have Charles and Ronald going to prison for fifteen years, possibility of parole after ten and Jasper is going for twenty-five, possibility of parole after twenty. _

"That's better than the old ones." Rachel felt relieved that they had actually took the time to make sure Jasper got a true sentence instead of trying to piggy back off of Ronald's.

_They should be going away longer in my opinion, but I digress, I am not the one responsible for handing out stuff like that. Anyway, they took the plea deals because if they went to trial the juror's were going to push for more jail time instead of fines. _

"So it's really over? They're in prison now?" Rachel was starting to feel a little overwhelmed at what Sue was telling her.

_Yes, it's over. They have a bunch of restrictions about contact with each other and the outside world, there's no way they can talk or see you two or the family. If they even attempt to contact anyone associated with you two in anyway the judge is going to throw the book at them the hardest they can._

"I don't know what to say right now. Thank you Sue for everything you have done for us." Santana was starting to get a little emotional, she didn't know why that was. It just felt like once again another piece of their life was finally righted and they could move on to a new chapter with out worry.

_You don't have to say anything, just know that you're welcome, even if I didn't do much. _Sue chuckled, she was ecstatic that this was finally coming to a close. _I will let you two go, I have things to do and more people to see._

"Thank you for calling." Rachel shouted as Sue hung up the phone. She looked at Santana in bewilderment for a moment before she launched herself across the bed and into Santana's arms. "We can breathe again." Rachel mumbled into Santana's chest.

"Well you can breathe, I can't because you are hugging me so tight." Santana exaggerated her point by trying to breathe heavily. Rachel just laughed and kissed Santana soundly on the lips. "I don't know how I feel about all of this right now, I think I am still trying to process it all. They're gone, finally gone. My mind is befuddled right now."

"I understand completely. We have been waiting for this moment for so long and it's finally here." Santana shook her head in disbelief, she was sure it would hit them later but for now they were just kind of stuck in wonderland for a moment.

"Should we celebrate?" Rachel had a pensive look on her face like she was considering throwing a party.

"How about we just celebrate with breakfast and shopping like we had intended? I mean, I'm not trying to down play the situation, but we're already moving on with our lives, I don't want to give those men any more satisfaction from us thinking about them. Does that make sense? Am I being insensitive, because if I am, just tell me." Santana was worried this was all coming out wrong, she didn't want to offend any feelings Rachel might have about all of this.

"It's okay baby. I get what you're saying. Let's finish getting ready and head to town." Rachel kissed Santana once more before moving off of her to finish getting dressed. The Porter's were officially becoming a thing of their past and the future never looked brighter.


	80. Shopping, Shopping and More Shopping

"Santana! Rachel! It's lovely to see you two." Mr. Shuester wasted no time in hugging both women. After the call with Sue, Santana and Rachel had both finished getting ready to head to town. McKinley's Diner had been their very first stop where they shared a stack of pancakes and a fruit salad. Santana was honestly so stuffed that she questioned whether or not her jacket would zip back up. The weather was definitely turning colder and soon she would have to run her annual maintenance check on her snowmobile and ATV's to ensure that they were ready for this coming winter.

"It's great to see you too Shue. How are things here at the store?" Santana looked around as she asked. You could definitely tell that there had been some major renovations going on. The store looked better than it ever had. The front and back walls were painted a burnt orange color while the opposite walls were painted a very light tan. It sounds funky, but it was pretty cool to look at.

"Amazing. Well as you can see we've been doing pretty well." Mr. Shue gestured around the store, subtly pointing out the renovations.

"It looks great." Rachel smiled at the man that had become a close family friend over the years of her being with Santana.

"Thank you. So what can I help you ladies with? Is it time for some new canning orders yet?" Mr Shue posed his question to Santana.

"Not quite yet. I haven't had a chance to do a full inventory of what I need, but I will definitely be back with a whole list of stuff for you. We were actually wondering if your baby section was _open_ yet?" Santana asked with a hopeful expression.

"It is...sorta. We still have a few things coming in that are on back order right now, but they should be here within the next week or so. We've actually got a lot stuff on back order at the moment, some of the things are stuff that goes to the new St. Lawrence Children's Home. It looks amazing out there. Let me show you what we do have." Mr. Shue began walking towards the back of the store where the baby section had been moved to.

"Oh yeah, we have plans to go out there tomorrow and make one final push to get all the rooms finished. I feel horrible about our slacking lately." Santana was very disappointed in herself, even though the time she had missed decorating had been for the home anyway, she wanted to do more.

"What?!" Mr. Shue turned around appalled with a horrific look on his face. "Has someone said something? Because I know for a fact you two haven't been slacking. You've had the majority of your rooms done for a while now, the only thing left to do really is put the finishing touches on them and you said you were doing that tomorrow."

"I know, I just feel like I have let them down some how." Santana stuffed her hand in her pockets. She really didn't want to get into this right now, but that seemed a bit inevitable.

"Santana, honey. What did you do this past weekend?" Rachel asked as she rubbed her hand up and down Santana's back.

"The art show?" Santana looked at Rachel. Duh, she knew what they had done this past weekend.

"Exactly. You raised millions of dollars that will be divided up between all the homes in New York. You have worked tirelessly when we were at the home getting as much stuff done as possible. There isn't a slacking bone in your body." Rachel gave Santana a small smile.

"I guess you're right. Besides, all the extra's we wanted to put in the rooms just now came in a few days ago. Chloe left a voicemail saying she signed for it. That's why we have plans to go out there tomorrow." Santana couldn't wait to get out there and see all the stuff. There should be boxes of shower caddies and supplies to go in each room, new bath towels and wash cloths, wall stickers for the nursery and dorm rooms, night lights, book lights, just all kinds of stuff.

"See, you weren't slacking. The delivery people were." Rachel laughed as Mr. Shue turned around and began to walk towards the baby section again.

* * *

Rachel and Santana were in awe as soon as they stepped through the archway into the new baby section of Shuebury's. It looked as if Mr. Shue had crammed a Baby's R Us into his store. There were isles upon isles of stuff, some things Santana had never seen before in her life. Slowly both women began to walk up and down the isles picking up various things to look at.

"There's a lot to take in, so I will let you ladies explore. Just yell if you need anything." Mr. Shue said with a parting wave before he headed back towards the front of the store.

"Look at these San." Rachel held up two eating utensil sets that would be perfect for the girls.

"I thought we were going to let them choose stuff like that?" Santana responded as she sat down a breast pump that she had been looking at. The thing honestly scared her a bit, it looked like some kind of torturing device.

"Well we can come back and let them pick out more, but we should get some just to have. Do you like these?" Rachel handed over the giraffe and monkey utensil sets. Santana immediately smiled and nodded her head. Of course she loved them and there was no doubt that the girls would love them too.

"We should have gotten a basket, because I know we are about to spend a lot of money..." Santana spoke as she reached forward and grabbed some new sippy cups, pacifiers, and a bottle brush to keep said items clean.

"I'll go get one." Rachel took off like a dart towards the front of the store. Santana knew right then and there that she was definitely in for one major shopping trip. Santana continued on with her browsing picking up several other things that she knew the girls would need for sure and some other items that she wanted just because. By the time Rachel came back, Santana already had her arms full of stuff.

"What is all of this?" Rachel asked as Santana emptied her arms.

"Let's see, I got a couple packs of socks, different sizes to do them a while, under onesies, little blankets with stuffed animal heads, hats and mittens, oh and over here I got a play pen and two high chairs off the shelf. Finn or one of them will have to come get us a cart." Santana stood proudly as she looked over all the stuff that she had already picked out.

"What about car seats and strollers? Did you find those or are they on back order?" Rachel was thankful that Santana had already picked out some of the major items they would need. She was way to indecisive and would take forever to pick some of this stuff out.

"Those are on back orders. The spaces are set up but the only thing there is catalogs to see what will be available soon." Santana walked over to the farthest wall of the section and pull one of the catalogs off the shelf. "Do you want to look at it and see if there is something specific that you want to get?"

"Yeah, we can look and have them set aside for when they come in." Rachel began to flip through the pages of the catalog as Santana resumed walking back up and down the isles looking for anything else she felt they would need in the very near future. Santana was lost in her own little world looking at diaper bins when she felt a presence behind her shoulder.

"Get that one. It sprays an odor eater after every diaper is dropped in." The voice spoke. Santana gasped, a little startled when a slightly tan hand came into view and pointed down at the bottom shelf.

"Puck! What are you doing here?" Santana exclaimed with a smile when she looked up to see who was pointing.

Puck waved his arm up and down that was holding a sack of diapers. "Diaper duty and my candy order came in. So I am here to pick it up."

"Candy order? So you are doing the trunk or treat this year?" Santana was a little surprised that Puck had even time to think about Halloween still.

"Of course, no party though. I just didn't have time to plan it. I don't want the kids to miss out on trunk or treating though. For some of them, the studio is the only place they come to get candy every year." Puck loved holding a trunk or treat, it was a great way for kids to get a lot of candy that was guaranteed safe to eat as soon as you got it.

"Rachel and I had been wondering if you were still doing anything this year. I kept meaning to ask, but it slipped my mind. We want our regular spot in the parking lot." Santana rested her hands back inside the pockets of her jacket.

"I will make sure to put you down when I get home. Where is Rachel?" Puck asked, looking around Santana's shoulder.

"I'm right here. I was looking at strollers, which I think I have found the perfect two seater for the twins. I want you to look at it too though San." Rachel announced her presence as she came around the corner to were she could hear Puck and Santana talking.

"Okay, we can do that in minute. We just got our regular trunk or treating spot for Halloween. So we need to go get candy to give out while we are here." Santana stopped to think a minute. "I know we will most likely dress up...but she would get costumes for the twins? Do you think we could call and ask Chloe and Agetha about bringing them to the trunk or treat? Not just the twins, but all the kids."

"It doesn't hurt to ask, but we can wait on the costumes and see what they say first." Rachel shrugged her shoulders, she didn't want to get her hopes up. It was possible that the home had something going on already for Halloween.

"Puck! Hey man, your cart is ready to go up front. I can get some goons to help us load it into your truck when you get ready to head out." Finn called as he jogged towards the group of three.

"Thanks man." Puck shook Finn's hand before turning back around to Rachel and Santana.

"Hey Finn, we need a cart. We've got a play pen and two high chairs sat out back here." Rachel called to Finn's retreating form. Finn turned around and gave Rachel his best dopiest grin before nodding his head and scampering off to do what Rachel asked. Santana couldn't help but to snarl a little. Finn wasn't just being a helpful employee with Rachel. Finn always tried to turn on his charm whenever Rachel was around, however Rachel always shut him down real quick. Puck snickered at the look on Santana's face, it was just too funny. Santana immediately shot him a glare, daring him to actually laugh out loud.

"It's been lovely ladies but, I have to get going. Davis was down to his last couple of diapers when I left and I had a few errands to run before I came here. I may go home to find a mess." Puck laughed. He knew he better run away while he still had the chance.

"Yeah, you better get home then. I'm surprised Quinn isn't blowing up your phone." It was Santana's turn to snicker, she loved when Puck got in trouble. He always looked like a chastised puppy.

"My phone is in the truck. So yeah, she probably is blowing it up and I am going to catch hell for not answering. It's okay though, I ordered her favorite food for lunch, she will forgive me." Santana just shook her head in response. "Oh and don't forget, trunk or treating starts at six but set up starts at five."

"We'll be there." Rachel smiled as Puck turned around and started to walk off.

"Sounds good. I really better get going." Puck began to jog towards the front of the store so he could get his stuff and leave before Quinn sent out a search party.

Santana sighed as she turned around to look at her wife. Yeah, her wife. She was having one of those moments again where it just randomly hit her that she was a married woman now. A married woman with two twins on the way, so to speak. Life was glorious. "Now, let's go look at this stroller you picked out and then we can go look at costumes for us and get some candy. Finn will see our stuff and load it up for us." Rachel grinned and shifted the basket she was carrying to her other arm so that she could grab Santana's hand. They still had tons of shopping to do.


	81. Special Visit

After a very long and very exhausting shopping trip, Santana and Rachel headed back to the cabin to unload everything they had purchased. What had been a basket and a cart for the bigger items, turned into a buggy and a cart both loaded with numerous items. Santana couldn't help but to cringe a little at the amount of money they had spent, but it was well worth it for the girls. To be fair the Halloween candy, costumes and decorations along with some every day house hold items where purchased as well. Never the less, Santana and Rachel were both excited about the numerous outfits and pajama sets they had bought. Both girls now had bedding sets and blankets, stuffed animals, books and plenty of toys (both for development and just for fun). Santana was super excited for the girls to have the baby dolls that she and Rachel had bought because they looked like the twins. Even with the extensive strides society had made to this day, it was still a bit of a mission to find baby dolls of color, so when Santana came across them in Shuebury's, she knew right then and there the girls had to have them. Rachel had to put a stop to how many toys Santana bought though, because Christmas was coming up in two months and they needed stuff to buy. If they bought it all now they would be lost as to what to get the girls for Christmas.

"It's going to take forever for us to get all of this stuff put away." Rachel chuckled as she glanced towards the back of the jeep.

"That's okay, we have the rest of the evening to put most of it up. We can leave their books in the bags until the shelves come in." Santana said as she turned onto the road that lead to the cabin.

"We need to wash the clothes that we know they will probably wear right away, like the pajamas and play clothes. Next we have to set up their gliders either in the living room or in their room somewhere, hang their stuffed animal nets, wash their bedding and make their beds...we're going to be busy the rest of the day." Rachel counted off all they needed to do on her fingers.

Santana laughed as she pulled the jeep up in front of the cabin. "Their room is going to be so full of stuff and they aren't even here yet. I wish I could start renovations sooner, but there's no way. We would only be a fourth of the way done when the first big snow hits which will most likely be in a couple of weeks. We just can't buy anymore stuff that they don't need until Spring."

"I don't think their room will be too crowded. Their stuffed animal net will hang over their beds, diaper bin can go in the corner of the room next to the door, their shelves are made for their height and hang low on the wall, behind the door and we can put one glider in the corner next to the shelves. There is plenty of room in there, butttt, we could always turn the other guest bedroom into a toy room for them for now. I mean they do need some place where they can work on their floor puzzles. Or we could always rethink about letting them have their own rooms, if you want." Rachel knew that suggesting splitting the girls up was a bit of a touchy subject. They hadn't argued about it per say, but Rachel knew that Santana really wanted the girls to be together at least until their new rooms were built. Even then their rooms would have a connecting bathroom. The two main reasons for keeping the girls together is because they will be in a new home, in a new room with new beds and both women wanted the girls close to them in case they were needed. Of course they had purchased baby monitors but the other guest room was still too far away in Santana's eyes. In the new rooms Santana and Rachel would just be down the hall, not down the hall, through the living room and up the stairs like they were now from whichever twin was in the other guest bedroom.

"I think we should stick with the original plan and keep them both in the same room. We can move the guest bedroom around to fit their toys and puzzles." Santana sighed as she turned her head and rested it against the driver's seat headrest.

"Okay, we can do that too." Rachel smiled and patted Santana's thigh. "Moving the room around means one less bed we have to find storage for."

"That's so true." Santana closed her eyes and just listened to the soft sounds floating around in the car. It was peaceful.

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked quietly as she brushed her knuckles against Santana's cheek.

"Honestly?" Rachel nodded her head. "Nothing. Just enjoying the stillness. We've been so busy lately, we haven't had a moment to just breathe. We should go to the tree house soon, take the dogs, pack some snacks and hide away for a day or two. Maybe we will get lucky enough to see the first snow fall from the hammock." Santana grinned lazily, relaxing in her hammock with Rachel was one of her favorite past times.

"That sounds like a lovely idea, but first we need to get all of this stuff in the cabin and then find us some dinner." Rachel began to gather her things from the front so that she could go unlock the front door before coming back to help Santana.

Santana sighed, a little disappointed that her moment of stillness was over. However, Rachel was right. They had things that they needed to get done. Things that would definitely never get done by themselves. Mustering up her energy, Santana jumped down from her jeep and opened the tailgate. Why had they bought so much stuff?! Hopefully they could get this done quickly and efficiently.

* * *

"Okay. Thank you, we will see you then." Rachel replied in a cheery voice as she hung up the phone. Santana heard the end of the conversation as she came out of the twins nursery. Everything was finally put away, minus the stuff that was going to be washed first and the books since they were waiting for the shelves to be delivered.

"Who was that?" Santana asked as she opened the pantry doors, looking for a snack.

"Alison. She wanted to know if we had plans for Halloween." Rachel clasped her hands together and began rocking back and forth on her heels.

Santana's head immediately popped up from where she had been looking for a snack on the bottom shelf of the pantry. "Why did she want to know that?"

"Well, one weekend a month she's allowed to sign "her kids" out for the day and take them to do stuff. Next weekend is finally Sierra and Samara's weekend and she wanted to know if we would like her to bring them for a visit with us. I told her about the trunk or treat and she said she would be more than happy to bring them out. She said she would even come early if we wanted to meet and have dinner before hand." Rachel was practically jumping up and down at this point.

"Oh my gosh! That's amazing. We get to take them trick or treating, well trunk or treating. Someone will have to watch the jeep so we can take them around. OH shit! We have to go back to Shuebury's and get costumes for them? Did she say if they had costumes or not? I don't want them to feel left out. We should also still ask Chloe and Agetha to see if they can or want to bring any more of the kids out, I just don't feel right leaving them out." Santana rambled, she began searching for keys, long forgotten about hunting for a snack.

"Honey, calm down. I don't know if they have costumes, but we can find out. We can call Chloe and Agetha tonight, but I think they might be coming to the new home tomorrow. We can just ask them. I'm sure if they have something planned that the girls would have already been included in that. If they don't have costumes, we can get them tomorrow when we come back from the new home, okay? Lastly, I am sure that we can find someone to watch the jeep since we know everyone that will be there." Rachel was laughing while she wrapped her arms around Santana to try and ground her.

"I don't know if they will be there tomorrow or not. Either way, I'm just so excited to spend time with the twins. It's going to be their first time trick or treating with us. I mean yeah, Alison will be there, but it's still with us. We have to take tons of pictures." Rachel could feel the energy bubbling off of Santana as she spoke. There was something so mesmerizing watching Santana get so worked up about the girls. At one point, Santana questioned if she would make a good mother or not and this was just the tip of the iceberg in proving that she was going to be an amazing mother.

"So if they don't have costumes, what do you think we should get them? I know we're going as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, but I don't know what the girls should be." Rachel said as she let go of Santana and picked up her phone, ready to start searching for ideas.

"Uh..they will be Batman and Robin?" Santana stated as if it was obvious. "It would be super cute and they will obviously match us."

"Why on Earth didn't I think of that? We could be a whole Batman family!" Rachel exclaimed. "Even if they do have costumes, we are so totally going back to Shuebury's tomorrow, we can just change them after dinner."

* * *

After deciding what costumes they were going to get the girls, Rachel and Santana decided to go ahead and move the guest bedroom around. It was tiring, but they were able to get everything into a position so that the girls would have plenty of room to play and not get hurt while in there. Both women were still beyond excited to the upcoming visit they would be having with the girls. Soon they wouldn't have to worry about a social worker following them around as they spent time together as a family. The next few weeks couldn't come fast enough.

Dinner that evening was prepared by Rachel once they had finished moving the guest bed room around. The chicken fajitas and rice that Rachel had made was glorious as Santana had so graciously put it. She loved to cook and usually the kitchen was her sanctuary besides her studio, but she didn't mind letting Rachel run the show. She was definitely going to have to search her cook books and mind for kid friendly recipes once the girls came home. It was kind of fun to imagine the nights where they could all cook as a family and just enjoy each others company. Oh the messes they would inevitably make, but half the fun would be cleaning them up.

Sometimes it still hit Santana with full force that she went from a home body with one dog to a wife, two dogs and a set of twins. As someone who grew up fairly lonely, even with a large group of friends, it was amazing that this was now her life. There was truly no other place she would rather be. As she laid down in bed, Santana smiled as she pulled Rachel close. She couldn't imagine being anywhere but here. There was no way in hell that anyone would ever take this from her, despite how many people that had already tried in the past.


	82. Finishing Touches

When the bright early morning sun shown through the loft windows on Sunday morning, Santana groaned and stretched. She and Rachel needed to get up, feed and walk the dogs, eat breakfast and get ready to head to St. Lawrence. They were finally going to hopefully finish up all the last little details for the new home, seeing as move in day was exactly one week away. The camera crew would most likely be there today as well since their filming was going to be wrapping up with the official opening ceremony being the last part of the documentary. There would be interviews afterward that they were going to edit in, but on the site shooting would be finished. Santana was beyond ready for this documentary to go into editing, the guys were nice enough, but it was hard to work with a camera in your face. That was one of the reasons she held a high appreciative for Rachel's movie work. She wouldn't be able to do it, especially with the probability of having to shoot scenes over and over, at least with the documentary she had control over what she was doing and saying. If they didn't like something or thought it was a bad angle all they had to do was edit it out.

Santana lay in bed a moment, just looking out of the window. She couldn't wait for the first snow fall. It was always a little refreshing when you breathed in that first super chill wind, even if burned a little in your lungs. For a moment while the snow fell, the world was silent, covering itself in a beautiful blanket of white. There was also the addition of regular deer hunting season. Once Davis was settled in even more at home, she and Puck were going to have to plan a trip. Maybe this year would be the year that Rachel would decide to come along, Santana highly doubted it though. Hunting just wasn't one of Rachel's favorite things to do.

Speaking of Rachel, the woman was covered head to toe with blankets. It wasn't cold in the cabin at all, but Rachel always liked to be extra warm. Santana smiled listening to the soft snores of her wife, who would swear that she never snored at all. Santana knew better than to tease her, it never ended well. Either way, it was still so cute. Sighing a little at having to get up out of her own blanket cocoon, Santana tossed the covers back and decided to make her way downstairs to put some food down for the dogs before letting them out and starting on breakfast for she and Rachel. Maybe she would put together a fruit salad with some of the things they had bought yesterday at Shuebury's, it was light and healthy. Before anything else was done, Santana knew she definitely needed to get some coffee going.

* * *

Rachel and Santana arrived at the new St. Lawrence Children's Home at roughly ten AM. There were a lot of cars already there, meaning that most if not all of the original group that Santana had put together was there as well. Everyone was gunning for that last minute push to get everything done before the week was up.

"I wonder if your parents are here?" Rachel asked as she leaned forward in her seat looking out of the windshield.

"I'm not sure. I don't see their rental car at the moment. They might show up later." Santana shrugged her shoulders. To be honest, she hadn't seen much of her parents since the night of the art show. They had found great friends in Leroy, Bayani, Shelby and Cassie, which Santana was thankful for. Between the calls and text messages she had been receiving, they had been spending a lot of time together. Grandparents bonding is what they had named all of their outings.

"Santana! Rachel!" Clark, a member of one of the churches that had stepped in last minute to help came trotting across the parking lot.

"Hey Clark! How are you this morning?" Santana asked as she climbed down out of her jeep. Rachel followed suit a moment later.

"I'm great! Listen, your stuff that finally arrived is in the dining hall. We set it up in kind of an assembly line the best we could. My crew didn't open anything, we just went by the box labels. There's a three tier cart we left in there for you too so you can hall a bunch of stuff at one time when you get it put together." Clark squinted his eyes against the bright morning sun.

"Thank you. We really appreciate that." Rachel stuck her hand out to shake Clark's hand.

"It was no problem. It really looks great in there. I know we will be done by the end of the week." Clark smiled a big toothy grin.

"Yeah? They've got it almost done?" Santana shielded her eyes and looked up at Clark. In a way he kind of her reminded of Mark Wahlberg.

"Almost. Respectfully I told my crew to stay away from anything that was associated with your group in terms of decorating. But, I noticed that you all were about done anyway." Clark took a long drink from his bottle of water that he was carrying.

"Yeah, Rachel and I hope to finish our personal rooms up today and get all the little accessories into the rooms." Santana tucked her hands into her pockets. The sun was bright and warm but the wind that was blowing was chilling her to the bone.

"That sounds cool. I got to go to my truck and get a dolly to move the last couple of bed frames into the dorm rooms downstairs. We're having a late lunch at around two, you both are more than welcome to join us. It was supposed to be an outside picnic, but with this wind we will most likely be eating in the dining hall." Clark spoke as he started towards his truck.

"That sounds great." Santana and Rachel both turned to smile at the man before heading inside. They had boxes to open, shower caddies to put together and other odds and ends that needed to be delivered to each room.

* * *

Santana couldn't get over just how much of the home was completely finished. If you didn't know before, you would never be able to guess that at one point the buildings were made for college students. Every room now looked bright and colorful instead of that boring off white color that most dorm rooms were painted. Santana was making her third and final trip to deliver shower caddies when she lost Rachel at the nursery. Marley had been running late and Rachel really didn't want to start on anything without her. They still had the wall decals and some paintings that had to be hung, but other than that, everything else would come with the children when they moved in.

Thanks to some help from a large group of suppliers every room was fully stocked with the basic necessities. The lounge rooms on each floor were decked out with new game systems and at least two computers for gaming. All of the other computers that were strictly for homework could be found in the library that thanks to Leroy, Bayani and the school system was over flowing with new books. For the children who found themselves doing home school instead of attending public school, there were at least three classrooms. They could work on their studies undisturbed throughout the day. Even the little kids had a classroom, Santana felt like it was more of a play room though.

As Santana made her way down the hallway on the top floor, she smiled as she placed two shower caddies and new towels and wash cloths inside each room. There were a few people still milling about, doing a last run through to determine if anything else needed to be done. It made her chest swell with pride to see so many people willing to help out with the children's home. Between all the money spent, the time dedicated, it was nice to know that humanity could still be humble.

"Santana!" Rachel shouted as she rounded the top of the stairs.

"Finished with the nursery already?" Santana asked as she looked at Rachel. The woman must have jogged up the stairs instead of taking the express elevator.

"No, Marley and I need your eyes on some of the stencils and decals. We really don't want them to be slanted." Rachel giggled as she tried to catch her breath.

"Okay, I have...four rooms left to do and then I can come help." Santana pushed her cart a little further down the hallway.

"I can help you." Rachel nodded her head to herself before she grabbed two shower caddies and walked into the next room. She came back a moment later for the towels and wash cloths.

"So, how does the nursery look?" Santana was curious. She hadn't seen it since it was still bare walls.

"It looks amazing. The walls are a hunter green color and the window seats are perfect. All of their little shelves are stocked with diapers, pull ups and wipes. They have dressers with extra clothes and a linen closet full of bedding. All the cribs aren't there yet, but that's because the rest don't come until move in day." Rachel gushed over the room. "Oh and their little stencils and decals are a bright white and dark brown or animals of some sort so it all matches in some way or another."

"It really does sound amazing." Santana grinned before walking into the last room to deliver the last of the caddies. There were still tons of extras down stairs that would go into storage for when they needed them.

"I can't wait for you to see it." Rachel followed along behind Santana as the woman made her way in and out of the last room. "Now, all of the rooms are officially stocked and ready to go."

"Well as ready as they can be right now. I can't believe this huge project is finally coming to a close. All those kids are finally going to get to start a new life in a new home." It felt like a chapter of her life was about to be over for Santana. Sure she had started plenty of new ones in the past and there were definitely going to be more, but this one was the most special. So much stuff had happened in this one chapter and frankly Santana wasn't ready for it to end. During this chapter alone she had gained a wife, was helping to remodel a children's home and she was adopting two girls from said home. This chapter, once it was finished, would be one for the ages.

* * *

Once Santana and Rachel made it back down to the nursery, Marley was in the process of laying out all of the stencils and decals that were meant to go around the room. When Rachel had left they were still in their packages laying on one of the dressers.

"Hi Santana. How are you today?" Marley asked as she looked up when the two women entered the room.

"I'm great, how are you Doc? Rachel said you two needed an extra pair of eyes for the stencils." Santana motioned to the items on the floor.

"I'm fantastic. And yeah, we just want to make sure they are as straight as possible since at least two of them are quotes." Marley stood up and dusted off the knees of her jeans.

"There's a rumor going around that they have ordered more words and quotes to put throughout the whole campus in the halls and such." Rachel raised her eyebrows as she peeled the backing off of one of the stencils.

"I think that would look great, personally. Maybe we should order some of these for the twins nursery?" Santana picked up one of the stencils and studied it. She could easily paint the same thing onto the walls instead of buying very large stickers.

"We can if you want to. Now, this one goes over the door, so were going to peel the backing a little and then slowly stick it into place, if it looks slanted at any point, you have to tell us." Rachel gave direct orders to Santana.

"You got it boss." Santana stood straight up, staring right at the wall.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" Rachel giggled as she looked over at Marley, who stood there laughing.


	83. Halloween

Halloween was finally here! Rachel and Santana were waiting outside of McKinley's Diner, Alison was due to show up with the girls at any moment now. She had called and let them know when they were heading this way so that they could meet up on time. Their plans for the evening included having dinner and then going over to the studio to get the girls and themselves changed for the night. The back of the jeep was already decorated in numerous spooky decorations, there were just a few more finishing touches that they had to add once they were set up. Rachel bounced on her toes trying to stay warm. It was much cooler out tonight than they had initially planned. At least the girls would be warm in their Batman and Robin costumes.

"What's taking her so long?" Santana huffed.

"Honey, she'll be here in a minute. We did kind of rush out of the door right after she called, knowing it takes at least forty-five minutes to get here from St. Lawrence." Rachel smiled and rolled her eyes. Santana was always the impatient one.

"I just want to see my girls." Santana whined. To be fair, Santana had seen the girls yesterday when they went to visit the home and check out the party that the older kids were setting up for. They hadn't been able to talk to Chloe and Agetha at the new home because they never showed. Later on during the week when they called to ask if the children had any Halloween plans, they found out that Chloe and Agetha had an emergency situation at the current home that they had had to take care of on Sunday. No one at the home itself was hurt, but there were two children, a brother and a sister, that needed immediate placement and the St. Lawrence Children's Home was the only place that had available beds at the moment. Whenever situations like that occur, Chloe and Agetha are always the first ones to respond. It's one of the many reasons that St. Lawrence is such a highly respected home. They are honestly the best of the best during a crappy situation.

The worst part about the situation? The whole town of St. Lawrence knew because the children belonged to the mayor. Santana couldn't imagine ever being thrown into a media shit storm like that. At least there was a shining light at the end of the tunnel for the children. Their grandmother, who lived out of state, had been trying to get authorities involved for the longest time, but every time she called, the mayor was cleared immediately. Wonder how that happened? _The_ _children_ _are_ _fine_, they would tell her, clearly those children were going through hell and now everyone knew about it. Luckily the woman has some property in St. Lawrence and as soon as they have an emergency hearing on Monday, the children will most likely be released into her care. It was going to be an uphill battle from here, but hopefully she would be granted full custody and be able to take them home with her. Santana truly wished her and the children the best of luck.

"There she is!" Rachel exclaimed as Alison pulled up in her white Nissan. Both women immediately made their way over to the car smiling along the way. Impatiently they waited for Alison to step out and open the back doors where they could see the girls in their car seats.

"You can get them out." Alison waved her hand towards the girls. She appreciated Rachel and Santana not ripping open her doors as soon as she pulled up. The women wasted no time in getting each girl out of the back of the car. Santana opened the door she was standing at while Rachel walked around the other side of the car.

"Hi babies." Santana greeted as she fussed with Sierra's straps.

"Mami! Mama! Mami! Mama!" Sierra and Samara cheered at the same time as they kicked their legs and clapped their hands in excitement.

"They've been yelling for you the whole way here after I told who we were coming to see." Alison smiled as she watched the women interact with the girls.

"You look so cute and festive today ladies." Rachel tickled Samara under her chin causing the baby to flail her head around as she giggled. She loved whoever had dressed the girls today. Both were wearing stone washed jeans and Halloween related long sleeve shirts. Sierra's was purple with a cat dressed up like a witch and Samara's was orange with a cute little pumpkin on the front. Both were wearing little work boots, courtesy of Santana. She had delivered them yesterday when they went to visit the girls.

"Are you girls hungry? We're going to have dinner then go get some candy!" Santana carried Sierra on her hip into the diner.

"Candy!" Sierra and Samara cheered at the same time. Rachel shook her head in amusement.

"Table for five please." Santana told the hostess as they now stood in the doorway of the diner.

"Actually." Alison cut in. "A table for four and one."

"You're not eating with us?" Rachel asked before glancing over at Santana who had the same confused look on her face. They had both assumed that Alison would be joining them. They honestly didn't mind, they wanted to pick her brain about the girls since she had known them the longest.

"This is your day. We had all of our fun this morning." Alison shrugged her shoulders. "Go, enjoy dinner with each other, as a family." The woman shooed Rachel and Santana in the opposite direction that a waiter was leading her.

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked, still a little hesitant.

"I'm positive. I will be right over here if you need me, which I doubt you will." Alison pointed to a table more towards the back of the diner before giving the women a little wave.

* * *

Santana and Rachel were getting their first dose of how hard it could be to get yourself and two children dressed and ready to go at the same time. Add in the fact that they were trying to get dressed for Halloween and well you had a disaster in the making. The two women had decided to take turns, while Rachel got dressed up in her Harley Quinn outfit, Santana had started getting Sierra dressed in her Batman costume. Apparently Sierra didn't want to deal with this at all. She wanted no part in this silliness of putting on a costume. Samara on the other hand was walking around holding her Robin outfit waiting patiently for her turn to get dressed.

At least one thing had gone smoothly tonight, dinner had been amazing. Both girls sat in their booster seats and ate happily never making a fuss. Both girls even patiently waited for Santana and Rachel to decorate the jeep after they arrived at the studio. Alison was outside finishing up the last little details, that she had so kindly offered to do so that Rachel and Santana could get the girls dressed.

Santana felt like she was at her wits end. Watching Sierra sitting in the middle of one of the bathrooms at the studio crying with her fist in her mouth made Santana want to cry too. What was she doing wrong? Sierra wouldn't even let Santana touch her at the moment because she thought Santana was going to try and put the rest of her costume on her. To be fair the only thing left was the cape and the mask, which she didn't even have to wear if she didn't want to, but in her little head she didn't understand that.

"Mami." Samara giggled as she leaned into Santana's shoulder, rubbing her nose against Santana's cheek. The Latina woman couldn't help but smile. Samara was coming out of her shell day by day. She was showing complete signs of being the perfect charmer.

"Yes baby?" Santana turned her head and kissed Samara on the nose.

"Me now?" Samara swung her costume back and forth on her little finger that she was holding up high. An instruction given to her by her Mama so that she wouldn't get her costume dirty.

"Rachel are you about done?" Santana called out towards the stall where she knew Rachel was changing in.

"Yeah babe." Rachel answered back.

"Mama is going to get you dressed in just a minute okay?" Santana nodded her head, Samara done the same probably having no idea as to what she was agreeing to. It didn't really matter that much anyway, she seemed satisfied with the answer that Santana had given to her as she started her routine of walking around the bathroom once again. "Sierrrrraaaa." Santana sing songed to the little girl, hoping to quiet her down. "Look, Mami doesn't have the mask or cape anymore. Will you come sit with me a minute?" Santana patted her lap, hoping the little girl would come to her.

Sierra quieted down as she heard her Mami sing her name. She looked around at Santana's hands suspiciously before slowly crawling over to the woman and making herself comfy in Santana's lap. She sighed happily as Santana began to rub circles on her back. It was obvious the little girl was tired and ready for a quick nap. Santana began to hum, not really any particular song just making noise more or less. She should have known that all Sierra needed was some snuggles and she would be okay. It may have taken her a moment, but she figured it out and that was a feat within itself.

"Uh oh, someone is going to sleep and may miss the trunk or treating." Rachel pouted while looking at Sierra who was already on her way to dream land.

"That's okay. We can get candy for her. I'm just glad she isn't pissed at me anymore." Santana sniffled a little as she looked down at the sleeping girl in her arms.

"Hey." Rachel squatted down onto the balls of her feet, careful not to rip her tights. "It's okay. She wasn't pissed at you, she was just cranky at the whole situation. She's a baby, she doesn't even understand what being pissed at you means." Rachel began to rub Santana's shoulders with one hand while she balanced herself with the other.

"Pithed!" Samara screeched as she ran full speed at Rachel and Santana. The little girl laughed at the expression on her mother's faces.

"Did she just?" Rachel asked flabbergasted.

"Say her first curse word?" Santana was just as shocked when Rachel nodded her head. "Alison is going to kill us." Santana groaned.

* * *

Thankfully, Alison didn't kill Rachel and Santana. As it turns out when they told her what Samara had said, Alison informed them that one of the older kids at the home had actually taught the word to the little girl. They thought it would be hilarious, Stephanie did not when she heard Samara say it for the first time in the nursery. Now it was to the point that the little girl only said it when she heard someone else say it. Santana was curious as to why she and Rachel didn't know about this, but to be fair why bring up something like that that had already been taken care of. At least now Santana knew to better watch what she said in front of both girls. They were getting older and everything they heard would be absorbed like a sponge.

"Are you ladies ready to go trunk or treating?" Santana was bent over looking at both girls sitting in their strollers. It was a little before six and the kids had already started pouring into the studio parking lot. Alison had volunteered to give out candy at the jeep while Rachel and Santana took the girls around to the other cars. Rachel, at the moment, was actually helping Alison hand out candy to the first little swarm of kids that had surrounded the jeep. Santana smiled as she watched a witch, a pirate and a Buzz Light Year walk away chatting happily about the candy they had just received.

Sierra and Samara both cheered happily. Santana was glad that after her little nap Sierra was more than willing to wear the full Batman costume including the mask. Both girls just looked so darn cute, Rachel had already taken multiple pictures and Alison made sure to even snap a family photo. The first one of many, many more to come.

"We need to go San. Alison has to have the girls back before eight, so she has to leave at seven." Rachel said as she walked around the jeep.

"Let's roll ladies." Santana stood up and grabbed the handles on Sierra's stroller while Rachel grabbed Samara's. They took off walking, stopping and visiting with each car. Halfway through both girls decided they would like to walk around instead of riding in their strollers. Rachel and Santana paid no attention if anyone gave them questioning glances about the twins. Several papers had already ran stories about the adoption, however no one was willing to confirm anything for now. Someone had even tried to shop some pictures around of Rachel and Santana with the twins, but Tina was shutting them down left and right as quickly as she could.

The time spent with the twins felt like it had flown by. After the girls had finished trunk or treating, Santana and Rachel took them back to the jeep were they hung out for next thirty or so minutes giving out candy and greeting everyone that stopped by. They had seen tons of kids from the home along with Stephanie, Nicky and Rich. Now it was seven and Alison was loading up all the treats the girls had gotten. One of the best things about the trunk or treat at the studio was that the kids got more than just candy. Sierra and Samara had gathered two large candy sacks, a couple of little Halloween stuffed animals, some coloring books and a few sticker books. The people here were really very generous.

Santana sighed sadly as she strapped Samara into her car seat. Leaving the girls in anyway never got any easier, but it was something that she knew they had to do. Alison stood off to the side after closing her trunk so that she could give the women some privacy. It was bittersweet to watch. She was happy that she had been able to give Santana and Rachel some time with the girls, but she was saddened that she was also the one taking them away. She honestly couldn't wait until the moment when she could leave the girls with Santana and Rachel for good. Everyone would be much happier at that point.

* * *

Rachel waved to Alison as she pulled out of the parking lot. The twins were already dozing off as soon as they were in the car. They had been entertaining people in the back of jeep after they finished trunk or treating. They danced and sang and even helped give out candy, which really was more of them throwing it than anything. It was still cute none the less. Sitting down in the tail gate of the jeep, Rachel rested her head on Santana's shoulder.

"I really love that picture." Rachel pointed to Santana's phone as the woman flipped through all the pictures they had taken tonight. It was a picture of Beth, Davis, Sierra and Samara sitting on the tailgate of Pucks truck. Beth was in the middle, dressed as a football player, with Davis in her lap who was dressed as a football and on each side of them stood one of the twins. Santana had made it her phone background as soon as she snapped it.

"I do too." Santana smiled and then yawned. "I'm beat."

"I am too. Let's finish up here and then pack up and head home. We're about out of candy anyway and we have a long few days coming up. Especially tomorrow." Rachel stood up and yawned herself. Yawning really was contagious.

"That's right. It's moving day for the home tomorrow." Santana couldn't contain her excitement. Moving day was finally here. It had definitely been a long time coming and all of their hard work was finally about to shown off.

* * *

**To the guest reviewer, I apologize that the previous chapters have come off as all fillers. I didn't intend for them to be perceived that way. I've just been writing to tie up loose ends so we could move on to this chapter, move in day, the adoption, wedding and Christmas. To be fair, I'm not as bad with fillers as I used to be. I think in the first part of this story I had one day span the length of four or five chapters. At least in this story most of the time each chapter is a new day, haha. **

**Thank you for the views, reviews, favorites and follows. They are greatly appreciated. I also want to say thank you all for being so accepting of the new upload on every fourth day schedule. With work the new schedule has given me such a more relaxed state to write in and I just can't tell you how much better it makes me feel, so thank you again.**


	84. Moving Day

Santana yawned as she turned the key in the ignition of her jeep. It was early, too early. She and Rachel were about to head down to St. Lawrence to officially start helping the children's home move. The move was going to be easier than most big moves, since they didn't have to move any beds, just a few cribs, clothes, toys and some other essential items. However, they were moving sixty five kids from this home alone so they still had tons of work to do. Rachel had ran back into the cabin to grab her wallet that she had left out when she was ordering snow boots and some thermal under clothes for the girls. Santana laughed to herself as she took a sip of coffee out of her thermos. Those girls were going to have more clothes than Rachel and Santana combined.

"Okay, I got it." Rachel breathed as she climbed into the jeep and started to buckle her seat belt. Santana smiled at how red faced Rachel was from the wind that was blowing this morning. Snow was definitely in the air and there was no doubt in Santana's mind that they would have their first snow fall in the next couple of days.

"You ready to get this moving day started?" Santana asked as she put the jeep into reverse and began to back up. Soon she would have to start leaving her jeep down at the bottom of the road in the garage and drive the snow mobile up to the cabin.

"More than ready. I'm so happy for them, it's just all so exciting." Rachel clapped her hands together before settling back into her seat.

* * *

"KIDS! Please make sure your new room number is on ALL of your boxes. We don't want anyone's stuff getting lost. The little kid's boxes are already marked appropriately. You're older, please be responsible and do as I ask. If you know your number but don't have a marker, tell someone. We will write it for you!" Chloe stood at the back of one of three moving trucks checking off children as they finished bringing their boxes outside. Once they were done bringing their boxes out they were to go inside and clean their rooms from top to bottom. There was no way that the new children moving in were going to get a dirty home.

The children and workers from the new home would be arriving this evening at around four. So much progress had been made already but there was still a lot of work to be done. Santana, Rachel and the whole group that Santana had put together arrived at six sharp this morning and started work right away. The kitchen was packed up, the offices were cleaned out and all of the rooms were on their way to being emptied out. Agetha was already at the new home with a few social workers putting up the children's case files. Since they contained sensitive information about each child, they had to be moved and secured in the new location as quickly as possible.

"Truck one is ready to go." Leroy called as he came to stand next to Chloe.

"Perfect! Truck two and three are almost filled. We just need to do a walk through and make sure all the boxes are loaded." Chloe squinted her eyes against the soon to be setting sun.

"Upstairs on both sides of the home is clear." Santana said as she was coming out of the building with a moving dolly stacked with boxes. Marcus, Bayani and Cassie each were pushing dolly's also. "These are everything that was up there. There are some others doing a bottom floor walk through."

"We're so close to being done. I hope the kids are actually cleaning and not just playing around." Chloe sighed, cleaning was the last thing they had to do before they could officially leave.

"Oh don't worry about that. My mom, Rachel and Shelby are walking the floors like wardens checking rooms." Santana cackled as she started to unload her collection of boxes into the back of truck number two. "They should be finished in an hour or so maybe?"

"Okay...okay." Chloe took a deep breath to calm her nerves. An hour would work out perfect. Stephanie, Rich, Nicky and a bunch of the other home volunteers were gone taking the younger children to the new home at the moment. By the time they came back everything should be done. The rest of the children would then make the short trip to the new home where they would begin the process of unloading everything. Hopefully they would get a lot of this stuff done tonight, that way they could spend tomorrow and the next day decorating and preparing for the official opening ceremony. Everyone agreed that they wanted the home to be settled before they welcomed the town of St. Lawrence to come in and take a tour of the new place. The whole town was excited for the home and they couldn't wait to see the new sign that the one and only Santana Lopez had painted.

* * *

Rachel took a long drink from her water bottle as she sat down next to Santana at one of the tables in the dining hall at the new home. They had finished unloading the trucks merely minutes ago and now everyone was taking a quick break for dinner before they started unpacking. Well the older children would start unpacking their rooms while the adults helped the little kids settle in. Even if they didn't get everything unpacked tonight, one of the main tasks was to get their beds made and to find pajamas. It was starting to get later in the evening and the older kids still had school tomorrow.

"Are we staying for bedtime routines?" Santana asked after she finished chewing her bite of sandwich that she was eating when Rachel sat down.

"If you want to we can. I'm not too tired yet." Rachel stretched and popped her back making Santana cringe.

"I really want to. We haven't got to see the girls all day except for breakfast this morning." Santana pouted a little making Rachel smile. The shorter woman leaned over kissing Santana's pout away.

"Finish eating and we can go see them." Rachel said before she stole one of Santana's chips for herself.

* * *

As Santana and Rachel made their way down the hallway towards the nursery they could hear the distinct giggles of the little girls. Thankfully there wasn't much to be done in the nursery other than setting up the cribs that had been moved and putting clothes, books and toys away. With as many people as there was, this hadn't taken long at all to accomplish. Both women laughed when they walked into the open door. Benton was running around in just his pull up, obviously putting up a fight about getting dressed in his pajamas.

"No sleep time!" Benton yelled, thrusting his little fists into the air.

"Yes sleep time, Mister." Stephanie lightly scolded. She was standing there, pajamas in hand with the other resting on her hip. "You have to get into bed because the new kids arrive tomorrow and you are going to be a gentleman and play nicely, right?"

"No." Benton gave Stephanie a confused look like what she was suggesting was outrageous.

Samara and Sierra were sitting on Sierra's bed playing with their stuffed animals, laughing away at Benton's antics. Quickly the little boy glanced over at them and took off running around the room. He had to keep running because he wasn't going to sleep. If only he could make it to the door, he could go visit some of his older friends. Benton didn't notice Rachel or Santana until he ran smack dab into their knees. He fell backwards on his butt, stunned for a moment before he jumped up and hugged them as tightly as he could.

"You come see your babies?!" Benton asked them excitedly.

"Of course we did, but we came to see you too!" Rachel replied with just as much enthusiasm. At hearing Rachel's voice, both Sierra and Samara lost interest in their stuffed animals and began to scramble off Sierra's bed.

"I Stephy's baby." Benton proclaimed proudly as he pointed to his little naked chest.

"You are, which means you should probably put your pajamas on for her huh?" Santana told him firmly, but gently.

"Probably." Benton looked down at the floor and then back to Stephanie before he sighed and walked over to her, swinging his arms back and forth. Rachel and Santana both laughed as Benton sadly made his way over and lifted his arms to Stephanie with his silent request. She obliged him quickly, giving him a thank you kiss on the cheek.

After tripping over each other several times, the twins finally made it across the room to their Mami and Mama. The girls happily lunged themselves at the women, knowing that they would immediately be picked up. "Hi little bugs." Santana cooed at the girls, tickling each of them under the chin.

"Mami bebe!" Sierra pointed to her mouth and looked around Santana searching for what Santana and Rachel assumed to be her pacifier. She raised her hands in a questioning manner. "Bebe!"

"Mami doesn't have bebe baby. What happened to it?" Santana asked.

"We haven't gotten them out yet. Their pacifiers are in their little totes on the top shelf of their cubicles." Stephanie pointed to the side wall were all the cubicles were lined up like lockers. It was the most convenient and organized way to keep everyone's stuff.

Rachel immediately made her way over to Sierra and Samara's cubicles to hunt for pacifiers. "Look, Mama is getting you a bebe." Santana pointed out to the little girl who just looked so darn cute this evening. Sierra was wearing a little blue Adidas track suit. Her hair was done up in twists, courtesy of one of the older girls who loved to play dress up with the babies. Samara was wearing a similar outfit, however she had taken off her jacket some time ago now. Santana loved watching her little natural curls bounce all over the place as Rachel walked with her on her hip.

"Do you want a bebe too Samara?" Rachel asked the little girl who giggled and nodded her head. Of course she wanted a bebe too, what was her Mama thinking. Rachel laughed as she retrieved a purple butterfly pacifier and a blue whale one. Samara began opening and closing her fist while reaching for the blue one. That was okay, purple was easily one of Sierra's favorite colors so she would be happy with the butterfly.

"I don't need a bebe anymores." Benton said from his position of standing in front of Stephanie now while she pulled his shirt over his head. "I just needs me elphie." Benton reached around Stephanie to grab his beloved stuffed elephant.

"You're becoming such a big boy. Their bebe's are like your elphie." Stephanie tapped Benton on the nose making him giggle.

"Yeah, pretty soon the girls wont need bebe's either. We plan to start breaking them after we get them home and settled into the cabin." Rachel spoke to Benton as she bounced Samara on her hip. The little girl wrapped her arms around Rachel's neck before laying her head on the woman's shoulder.

"That's a good idea." Stephanie smiled at the two women. "I take it you two are here to help with bedtime tonight?" Stephanie didn't mean to come off as..pleading but she could really use the help. Everything was just so crazy tonight with the move having been going on all day.

"We are. It's all hands on deck tonight." Santana chuckled as she sat down in one of the gliders in the room.

"To save time, we aren't doing actual baths tonight, just baby wipe rub downs. It will go so much quicker and it won't really wake any of the tiny ones up like Jasmine who has been fussy all day. I think she is finally teething." Stephanie scrunched her nose in sympathy as she looked over to one of the cribs where Jasmine slept. The little one had truly had one of her roughest days yet.

"Sounds good to me. Does that sound okay to you?" Santana tickled Sierra who was now straddling her lap, sucking softly on her pacifier. The little girl nodded her head, giving Santana a huge smile that was clearly visible even with her bebe in her mouth. Bath time, bed time and then it was time to head home so that Rachel and Santana could fall asleep for the night too.


	85. Cutting The Ribbon

Santana wiped her hands nervously on her dress pants. It was the night of the official opening of the new St. Lawrence Children's Home. They had been working tirelessly all week in preparation for tonight. Santana peeked around the side of the stage where she was waiting to go on. At the moment, Agetha was speaking about the home and the type of program they ran. Next a few children who had been adopted out of the home were going to speak and then Santana. She could see Rachel sitting with the twins in the front row, next to all of the parents. Santana was sad that her parents would be returning to the city tomorrow, but they would be back for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Something odd was going on there, the whole time that her parents had been here, neither of them had taken any work related phone calls at least when she was around. That just didn't fit the type of people that her parents were at all. She was definitely going to have to get to the bottom of that.

Rachel waved when she noticed Santana at the corner of the stage. She leaned forward and whispered into Sierra's ear while pointing in Santana's direction. The little girl jerked her head quickly, giggling and waving when Santana wiggled her fingers at the little girl. Sierra must have thought that Santana was motioning for her because suddenly the little girl wiggled her way out of Rachel's lap and attempted to book it onto the stage. Being quicker than she thought she actually was, Rachel was able to scoop Sierra up before she could hurt herself trying to climb the stairs. Suddenly Sierra let out a loud shrieking laugh, causing the audience and Agatha to chuckle. Rachel blushed and apologized for interrupting but Agetha waved her off. Santana couldn't help but to giggle, hearing Sierra laugh had calmed her nerves down considerably.

* * *

"Before we officially cut the ribbon, there is someone else that is going to say a few words. She's the woman who really made the majority of all of this possible for the children. She's also the woman who made it possible for every children's home in the state of New York to receive an early Christmas gift this year. Mrs. Santana Lopez-Berry." Maddox, a young man that was now twenty-five and had been adopted out of St. Lawrence Children's home when he was fifteen, announced.

Santana walked out onto the stage chanting in her head to not fall or vomit. She could speak in lecture halls full of students and in front of small groups of people, but there were hundreds of people here today. Hopefully she could make it through her speech without fainting. Leaning forward, Santana adjusted the mic before she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Good evening. Thank you for the introduction. As Maddox said, I am Santana Lopez-Berry and I really don't know how to introduce myself after that." Santana chuckled as did the crowd. "Magazines like to call me a world renowned artist, but I don't think they know what they're talking about ninety-eight percent of the time. I was told before hand that I had to fill up a twenty minute time frame so I suppose I can tell you about how we've all gotten to this point here today." Santana shuffled her note cards around on the podium. "A few months ago I was approached by my technical assistant, Mr. Artie Abrams and he told me that he had been contacted by a company by the name of Reed Productions. The only details I had were that he had a few commissions he would like to have a meeting about. That was cool, it was the first time a production company had ever wanted to have a meeting with me personally. Fast forward to the meeting and I am introduced to Chloe and Agetha. Little did I know that that one meeting would result in some life changing decisions. That story will come a little later. During the meeting I find out that this was more than just a commissions meeting, I mean these people had big plans for themselves and I."

Santana made hand gestures trying to emphasize just how big she was talking. "They explained the situation to me and the intentions for a documentary and immediately I was on board. We worked out some business details and I left to search for a group of people that could help. I found an amazing group of people among family and long time friends. Side note, the night of this meeting I got engaged again. I had already proposed but my lovely wife, Rachel Berry-Lopez wanted me to have a ring too." Santana blew a kiss to Rachel who smiled shyly. "I can't look at her for very long, she'll make me go all love struck and I will go over my twenty minutes." The crowd laughed again, Santana knew she was killing it now and her nerves were almost completely gone. "I'm going to get serious for a moment and talk about the real reason we are all here tonight. The children. We done the art show to showcase who you as a community would be supporting. These children worked endlessly on their paintings and they deserve every bit of recognition for their work. I'm so proud of everything they have done. The art show alone raised about ten million dollars. Thanks to you all, these children and homes all over New York are being provided for. I don't deserve all the credit that I am being given, all I did was paint a few pieces and gather some hard working people to help out with decorating. The real credit goes to the home, the children and you all. Thanks to every one of you, these kids have a brighter future which leads me to showing off the new sign. You can pull the sheet when you all are ready." Santana announced to some of the kids who were waiting next to the sign. She watched as several people gathered around with their cameras ready to snap the first pictures.

As the sheet came down the whole crowd began to clap and cheer. Santana could feel the love from these people radiating through her body. Santana was beyond proud of her work that she had done on the sign, it said everything that the home stood for. A place of darkness was where these children came from, the door in the painting represented the bright future that they had to look forward to. They would be taken care of and provided for here, it was a safe place where they could go to bed each night knowing they were okay. Santana hoped that they children would be able to feel the love for them here and that they would learn that sometimes it really does get better.

"Now, I just want to say one more thing before I go and we start tours and have refreshments in the dining hall. First I want to thank everyone involved for the opportunity to work with the home and children. As I am sure most of you know by now, Rachel and I are adopting two beautiful little girls from the home. That is one of the major life decisions that my wife and I made. Reaching the decision to adopt was the easy part, making the decision on if we were ready was the hardest. Every child here deserves the best and we wanted to make sure that we could be the best for those girls. St. Lawrence will always hold a special place in our hearts." Santana paused as the crowd got louder with their cheering. "When I started this project, I had no idea what was actually going to come of it. I worried day in and day out if I was truly doing enough, where could I help more? Was there anything else I can do? There's always something more you can do, even if it's just signing up to volunteer somewhere. So I am proposing that we continue the art show and do one each year. This is only the beginning of things to come not only for St. Lawrence but for every child in a New York children's home. Thank you again Agetha and Chloe for asking me to do this, thank you Peter Reed for helping to spearhead this whole thing with me, thank you to everyone who willingly came to help when I asked and last but not least, thank you to my family and my beautiful wife who has stood by me every step of the way. I love you Rachel and to my girls, Mami loves you too." Santana gave a wave as she walked off the stage to go meet up with Rachel, the twins and her parents. Agetha stepped back onstage to direct people where to go and explained that some of the crew would be taking documentary pre-orders if anyone was interested in the dining hall.

Santana felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she descended the stairs. Her speech may not have been the best, but she said what she wanted to say and hoped that everyone could take something away from it. Maybe she just inspired someone to sign up and volunteer for a few hours each week, maybe she just unwillingly wrote checks to charities or other organizations. Hell, she may have just inspired someone to look into adoption, the possibilities were endless. Whatever it was she just done, she hoped that the people ran with it and continued to help people who needed it in some way.

* * *

Rachel and Santana spent the next two hours mingling with everyone in the dining hall. Santana was starting to get a bit overwhelmed with the number of people in such a small space, but she was pushing through. At the moment she was sitting at a corner table, taking a break as her feet were killing her. She really should have brought more sensible shoes to walk around in. She smiled as she saw Rachel coming back over leading the twins by their hands. Both were trying to keep up with Rachel the best they could, but Rachel's walk was running for their little legs.

"Abuela and Abuelo sent them back after feeding them both cake pops." Rachel stated as she lifted Sierra onto the bench beside Santana, followed by Samara, before sitting down herself.

"I can tell." Santana scrunched up her nose at the bits of cake on the twin's faces as she looked in Davis' diaper bag for a baby wipe. Quinn and Puck had left it setting at the table with Santana so that they could go get them something to snack on. Beth had decided that she was too cool to hang out in the dining hall and had left with some new friends to go hang out in the gym. That's where most of the kids were at the moment, minus a few stragglers that wondered in every now and then.

"Stephanie will never get them to sleep tonight. No more sugar ladies." Rachel mock scolded with a smile.

"Pop pop?" Samara fluttered her big brown eyes at Santana.

"No more pop pops. How about some milk instead?" Santana handed Samara's sippy to her, hoping that it would settle the cake and possibly bring about some sleepiness. Rachel giggled as the little girl shook her head with a smile. She knew this game, milk meant bed time would be soon.

As Rachel and Santana played with the twins, they didn't notice Alison walk up until she cleared her throat announcing her presence. She smiled as she sat down across the table from the women. "Hi ladies." Alison said.

"Hello." Rachel and Santana answered simultaneously.

"How are you?" Rachel took the initiative to ask.

"I'm great, thank you. That was really a wonderful speech tonight Santana." Alison praised the Latina woman.

"Thank you very much. I'm glad you thought so." Santana responded, looking down and playing with the little bow on Samara's dress.

"I really do. I came over here to talk to you ladies about something. This is the first time I have seen you all night since everyone came inside." Alison laughed. She had been trying to catch up with the women to tell them some good news.

"It's been hectic." Rachel sighed, it wasn't a bad sigh, she was just super tired.

"I can imagine." Alison sympathized. "So, Mercedes' called me and told me that her office received your test results today."

"Yeah, we got the results and signed the release papers yesterday. They told us it could take a few days though." Santana had a curious look on her face. Where was this going?

"They can move quickly when they want to. When they move quickly we can move quicker, which is what I want to talk to you two about. We aren't really supposed to tell you when a home study is about to happen, but we know that you both have busy lives so we can give a time frame. Your time frame is Tuesday. Your adoptive parent meeting sheet has been filed, your test results are back and now we just have to do a home study and then we can set up a full weekend visit. If everything goes well...the girls could be in your custody within a week and a half." Alison waited for the reaction of the two women. It was all finally happening, the girls would be home soon.

"You're serious? A whole weekend and then they could be ours. Just like that?" Rachel asked, shocked.

"Yep. You two have waited so long for this now and we want the girls to go home where they belong." Alison smiled. The twins were oblivious to everything going on around them. They were more interested in drinking milk or playing with a toy cellphone.

"I have no idea what to say." Santana sniffled, she didn't mean to start crying, but wow. A whole weekend with their girls just being a family and then they could be a family for good. It was unbelievable.

"You don't have to say anything. Just stay close to home this coming Tuesday." Alison patted the table and stood up. She wanted to let the women have their moment in privacy. Alison turned to look back at the women. Seeing them both crying tears of joy was probably the best promise of love and devotion to the girls that she had ever seen before.


	86. Home Study

As soon as Rachel and Santana left the children's home they began going over everything that they needed to accomplish by Tuesday. It really wasn't that much, just things here and there that needed to be put up and organized. The girls books still sat in bags in their nursery because the shelves that the women had ordered still hadn't arrived. Hopefully they would come Monday, which they did. As soon as they arrived Santana quickly put them together and then continued to spend almost an hour organizing the books. Rachel couldn't help to giggle at Santana's antics. Santana was glad that they didn't have to resort to getting shelves at Shuebury's because there was a chance the shelves wouldn't match the nursery theme and that just wasn't acceptable.

Sunday the two women had spent all day baby proofing the cabin. Every outlet was now covered, all of the cabinets had locks on them and several baby gates had been purchased. There was one for the stairs, one in front of the cellar door and one that was specially made to keep the girls off of the hearth when the fire place was lit. Santana had a smaller one for the fireplace to keep Dax out of there, but this new one came out farther so as to not even tempt little fingers. All in all, Santana was proud of everything they had done, now it was just a waiting game for Alison and whoever else was coming with her to show up. In order to get a better idea of what was going to happen, Santana had contacted some of the parents that they had met at the adoptive parent meeting. Pretty much everyone had said the same thing, the social worker of the children came with their child placement specialist and some one from the agency to basically do a walk through of the house. They were looking to see if the parent(s) had everything in order to bring a child or children home. The parents that they had met were already becoming a great source for peace of mind. Santana and Rachel were both really glad that the meeting had been a requirement. These people understood exactly what they were going through.

"Santana, honey you are going to have to stop pacing, you are wearing a hole in the floor." Rachel observed from her position at the kitchen island. She and Santana were having a bite of breakfast trying to kill time before Alison showed up.

"I'm sorry." Santana whined, wringing her hands together. "It's just, what if we forgot something? What if the specialist hates dogs and refuses to let the twins come because he or she thinks the dogs will have some kind of manic outburst?"

"You're being dramatic. Alison knows we have dogs and she knows that they are well trained and that they would lick the girls to death before they ever thought about biting them." Rachel rolled her eyes. "We've been over the cabin with a fine tooth comb several times and we have everything, the only thing we don't actually have is our double stroller. But, we have the little ones from Halloween which will suffice for now."

"I'm scared." Santana's lower lip quivered before she could stop it from happening. Immediately Rachel was on her feet and wrapping herself around Santana's body.

"I know, and it's okay to be scared because I am too. This is also a time to get excited because we are going to have our girls here in a few days. It's overwhelming knowing that they will be here with us for the first time alone for two whole days, but we're going to be fine." Rachel rubbed her hands up and down Santana's back, trying to comfort the woman.

"We uh, we need to go to the store and get some snacks and stuff for them." Santana sniffled and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand. She of course was trying to change the subject and stop crying. She didn't want to have a full fledged cry face going on when Alison got here.

"Let's get the home study over with first and then we can make a list of what we need and what you would like to cook while they are here, okay?" Rachel wrapped her arms around Santana giving the woman a tight hug. "We're going to be okay baby." Rachel whispered.

"Yeah we are." Santana pulled back from the hug a little in order to kiss Rachel. They stayed like that for a moment before they were interrupted by a knock on the door. "They're here earlier than we thought they would be." Santana mumbled before heading towards the front door.

"Show time." Rachel took a deep breath and put on her best Broadway smile as she joined Santana to greet whom she presumed was Alison at the door.

* * *

Santana held her breath as she unlocked the cabin door and swiftly pulled it open. Outside stood, not only Alison and the placement specialist but Mercedes' also. "Good morning ladies. Please come in, come in." Santana stepped back and motioned for the women to step inside. Realizing the door was open, both Dax and Dahlia decided that now was the perfect time to go out. Santana smiled and shook her head, at least the dogs would be outside during the walk through.

"Santana, Rachel, you already know Mercedes' and myself, but this is Misty Graham, St. Lawrence Child Placement Specialist." Alison introduced the woman that was mildly intimidating to Santana and Rachel. She had a strong take charge presence accompanied with a warm smile. She definitely meant business, despite her casual dress of skinny jeans and a flowy top.

"It's lovely to meet you. Here, let me take your coats and we can sit down in the kitchen, if anyone would like something to drink? Coffee? Tea?" Rachel immediately began playing the perfect hostess while Santana introduced herself and Rachel again formally.

"I'm fine for now. You two really have a lovely place up here. I'm going to start off by saying I truly appreciate your level of security, the lovely man at the gate refused to give back my ID until I left the premises." Misty smirked a little.

"Yeah, he knew Alison, but since he didn't know us he wouldn't let us through otherwise." Mercedes' laughed as she handed her jacket to Rachel.

Santana groaned, she was going to kill Duncan. He knew that Alison would be visiting sometime today and that she would be bringing new people with her that were cleared already. That was just like Duncan though, he always pulled out all the stops. "I apologize..."

"Nonsense. I'm not going to lie and say I haven't seen media coverage of you two from the past, because I have. I respect his level of professionalism and the lengths he goes to make sure you both are safe. That's the first sign that I know the twins would be safe here with you two." Misty waved off the apology. "And yes, obviously you two know why I am here, my title kind of gives me away and Alison spilled the beans that she had mentioned for you two to hang around home today." Alison had enough decency to look genuinely sorry to her boss, however as soon as the woman's head was turned she gave a friendly wink to Santana who grinned in response.

Rachel came over to stand next to Santana. She clapped her hands in anticipation. "So how about those drinks? We could also give you a tour or would you rather just wonder around by yourselves?"

"Mercedes' and I would like to wonder a bit if that's okay? Those drinks would be lovely afterward though." Misty looked to Santana and Rachel for permission, yes this was her job but she wasn't going to just take off into the cabin.

"That's perfectly fine. Since we know you're looking for specifics, down that hallway is a guest bedroom turned playroom and an in home studio. This door is the nursery." Santana pointed to her left. "Through the archway behind me is the kitchen and bathroom. There is also another hallway back there that is all storage cabinets on the left, my studio on the right and the cellar door at the end. Up the stairs is Rachel and I's loft bedroom." Misty smiled her thanks as she and Mercedes' took the initiative to head down the hallway next to the fireplace.

* * *

It felt like ages before Misty and Mercedes' came back into the living room before making their way into the nursery. Santana, Rachel and Alison who were all waiting in the kitchen smiled at hearing the excited chatter coming from the two women who were looking around.

"Rachel and Santana, could you come in here for a moment please?" Mercedes' called out. Rachel and Santana looked at each other nervously before exiting the kitchen with Alison on their heels.

Misty was standing in between the beds studying them closely. Santana couldn't figure out what she was actually looking for until she spoke. "Do these beds have guards or rails for them?"

Santana and Rachel both sighed with relief, this was an easy fix. "Yes, ma'm. They just slide into the side of the beds when not in use." Santana walked over to one of the dresses and picked up a handle that also served as a key. "You squeeze the handle into the slot under this wooden slat and pull up until it clicks into the height you want it. There is a sliding release button on the bottom but it won't do anything unless the key is in place."

"We actually didn't know the beds had these until Santana and a family friend put them together. We have bed rails that we purchased separately in the closet." Rachel explained. Of all the things to get called out on, it had to be something that they had chosen not to do to make the room look neater for now.

"I really like the way that works." Misty complimented as she nodded her head in approval. "Who decorated the nursery?" The woman asked with curiosity.

"This was all Santana, being the artist that she is there was no way were going to hire a decorator." Rachel gave Santana a one armed hug. She was beyond proud of everything that Santana had done.

"You should expand your painting to include interior design." Misty complimented thoughtfully.

"This was fun as was painting my godson slash nephew's room, but I think that's the extent of my interior designing." Santana clicked her teeth as she thought out loud, Misty nodded her head. She understood where Santana was coming from, she enjoyed doing this one particular thing, it didn't mean she wanted to do it all the time.

"Shall we see the rest of the cabin?" Mercedes' asked to break the silence. To be honest she was tired of standing here looking for any little tiny detail. The room was perfect and it was outfitted to the tip top standards of safety, any child would be happy to live in this room.

* * *

Everyone made their way into the kitchen where Santana, Rachel and Alison sat back down at the bar while Misty and Mercedes' continued to look around the cabin. They first dawdled in the kitchen checking out all the cabinets and child locks before moving on into the bathroom and down the hallway. Santana breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them disappear around the corner. She knew they weren't going to find anything but the incident with the bed rails had definitely left her a little shaken up. Everything was okay though, they were going to get through this and they would have the girls with them this weekend.

"I just have one more question." Misty asked as she and Mercedes' came back into the kitchen. "Can we go into the cellar and upstairs?"

"Of course. The cellar should be unlocked because I was down there earlier this morning looking for peaches...which reminds me...somehow we only have a few jars left." Santana looked pointedly at Rachel who was finding the ceiling very interesting at the moment.

"How much stuff do you normally can a year?" Misty asked as she followed Santana down into the cellar.

"A bit of everything that I grow in my garden. So all together a couple hundred pounds of stuff. I also pre make soups and stews and can them. I make jerky's and freeze dry other stuff. We only grocery shop for certain basics that I don't have the tools to produce and luxury items like soda's, ice cream, or chocolate." Santana responded as she reached the bottom of the stairs and flipped on the light. She couldn't help but to smile at the gasp that Misty and Mercedes' both let out.

Santana and Rachel both took a minute to show the women around the cellar before they went back upstairs to check out the loft. Just as they had expected, Misty and Mercedes' were amazed by the view from the loft windows. The appreciated the fact that the gates were high enough to each place that they had to be unlocked and opened because none of them could even step over, that was a major plus.

When Misty and Mercedes' decided they were done looking, they all gathered in the kitchen where they chatted about what to expect. They would be receiving a call to let them know what time to pick up the girls on Friday. So did that mean? Yes, they were definitely getting the girls for the weekend. This weekend however would determine how soon permanent placement was going to happen. If the girls had a rough weekend, they would test the waters some more, do some one on one visits in the office and go from there. If everything went well then the next visit would most likely be the final visit because the girls would get to stay.

Santana and Rachel began to dance around the cabin when everyone left. Their girls were coming home for a visit. They had to make a store list and go shopping! Rachel grabbed for a pad and pen as Santana began to excitedly ramble about what all they would need. It was finally about to happen and life never felt so good.


	87. Road To Home

"What else is on our list babe?" Rachel asked as she turned around and placed two things of yogurt bites into the cart that Santana was pushing. The two women had made their shopping list and immediately left to gather everything that they would need for their fun filled weekend with the twins.

"Uhm..we need fresh parmesan for the ravioli I plan on making Saturday and we need milk. Basically, the dairy section is our last stop." Santana glanced down the list, it really had turned out way longer than she had first anticipated.

"Good, because I am officially tired of being in this store." Rachel sighed. Shopping was one of her favorite things to do, but today the store was packed. People were definitely stocking up in anticipation for some light snow that was supposed to move in tonight.

"Me too, plus I just really want to go home and take a nap." Santana chuckled. Today had not been a physically exhausting day, but mentally exhausting was another story.

* * *

Once Santana and Rachel made it home, they were in the process of putting stuff away when Santana's phone began to ring. "Hola Mami."

_Hola Santana. What are you doing? How did the home study go?_

Santana smiled at her mother's eagerness to be filled in with the latest adoption update. "Rachel and I were putting away some groceries. The home study went amazing. We get the girls for the weekend, we're just waiting on someone to call us with a time that we can pick them up."

_Oh Santana! That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you and Rachel. _

"Thank you. We're pretty excited ourselves. A little nervous but more so excited." Santana continued to move around the kitchen putting things away as Rachel unloaded them onto the kitchen island.

_Did they say anything about the adoption?_

"They said that if this weekend goes well then the next visit could be a permanent one." Santana listened to her mother chatter excitedly before she was cut off by Marcus in the background. _Honey the agent is here, they have some offers they want to talk about..._

_Oh Santana, I have to go. Your father and I have company that just arrived. I will talk to you soon. I love you mija, send Rachel and the girls our love..._

Santana frowned at her phone. Her mother just hung up on her! "Okay, my mother is officially acting strange."

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked while perching herself onto a stool and grabbing an orange.

"She just hung up on me. I heard Papi in the background say something about agents being there and talking about offers, then she excused herself very quickly...wait...agents...offers...do you think they're selling their house?" Santana had a curious look on her face as she scrunched up nose in thought. "I mean it makes sense, Mami found my Abuelo's pocket watch while going through old boxes and she hasn't had a reason to ever go through those, she's not a super sentimental person to do something like that on the off hand and now they are talking about agents and offers."

"If they are selling their house, does it bother you that they haven't mentioned it to you yet?" Rachel wondered while popping an orange slice into her mouth.

Santana took a moment to think. "Not really, I mean that house was never my home. This place has always been home to me. Rachel do you think they are moving here?"

Rachel paused in the middle of chewing. "I have no idea, but I would bet that they are or they're moving to some tropical island." She began to laugh when Santana's eyes started to bulge slightly.

"You don't know my Papi very well, but he hates sand. They would never move to a tropical island. I just...if they are moving here, which we don't even know if they are or not. They could just be looking for condo's or something, you know downsizing. Anyway if they are moving here, then they are taking this being in my life thing really serious and I honestly don't know how to feel about that." Having her parents around was something that Santana had wanted ever since she was a little girl. She truly appreciated that her parents were actually trying and she knew they were going to be amazing grandparents, but was this all too much too fast? Her parents had went from non-existent to probably moving here to be closer. She really needed to think about if this was something she wanted, but how could she do that if she wasn't even supposed to know that they were possibly moving.

"I think that you were so used to being without them that you don't know how to be with them anymore and that's okay. Them coming back into your life is going to be a work in progress. You know Shelby and I haven't even talked about a lot of things from the past and I honestly don't know if we ever will. We're building these whole new relationships with our parents and they're building relationships with us and the girls, it's all new territory for everyone." Rachel had abandoned her orange in favor of wrapping her arms around Santana. The two women now stood in the middle of the kitchen embraced in a warm hug.

"Promise me we won't ever do anything like this to our girls. If either of us feel like work is wedging a gap we talk about it and don't let it fester." Santana whispered with her forehead resting against Rachel's.

"Look at you, wanting to talk about stuff." Rachel replied all the while smiling. She squeaked when Santana squeezed her hips, begging for an answer. "I promise. Family will always come first."

"Thank you." Santana pressed a lingering kiss to Rachel's lips. Slowly she slid her hands up and down Rachel's back. "Let's go upstairs, we won't be doing much lovin' on each other with the girls here this weekend." Santana wasted no time is trailing her lips down Rachel's neck, relishing in the moan that she received.

"We aren't going to make it upstairs with you doing that." Rachel tilted her head back to grant Santana more access.

"That's okay." Santana smirked with a mischievous glint in her eye. Before Rachel knew what was happening, Santana had hoisted her onto the kitchen island. Oh yeah, they definitely needed to get this out of their system before the girls got here.

* * *

Santana and Rachel waited impatiently for Stephanie to bring the girls out of the nursery and all the way over to the check out office at the home. It was finally Friday and the two women couldn't be happier that the weekend was finally here. Alison had called them Thursday morning letting them know that they could pick the girls up at one and they had to be back at the home on Sunday at five.

"What's taking her so long?" Rachel huffed as she folded her arms over her chest. She was starting to get impatient, she just wanted to see her girls.

"We did get here thirty minutes early and the girls were still napping when the secretary called over there." Santana chuckled at Rachel.

"I wish we could just go get them ourselves." Rachel pouted as she sat down in a chair that was lined up against the wall.

"I do too, but we have to do this the official way, which means we get to sit in this lobby and wait for them. We can go as soon as they get here since we already signed them out." Santana turned on her heel from where she was standing and looking down the hallway. It felt like they had been there for an eternity already when she finally saw Stephanie coming up the hallway holding the girls hands with a backpack on her shoulder. "They're coming."

Rachel jumped up out of her chair and went to stand beside Santana. The girls immediately noticed them and began to struggle against Stephanie's hold. Without thinking about it, Stephanie let go of the girls and watched with a huge smile as they took off towards their mothers.

"Mami! Mama!" The twins yelled as they crashed into Rachel and Santana, wrapping their arms around the women's necks.

"Hi, lady bugs. You two look so cute." Rachel commented on the clothing the girls were wearing. It had finally turned cold enough that the girls were wearing their winter jackets that they had had delivered to the home.

"Home now?" Sierra asked curiously as she leaned back in Santana's arms looking at the woman's face.

"We're going home in just a minute." Santana responded before she stood up, hoisting Sierra onto her hip. "What's in the backpack?" Santana asked Stephanie when the woman finally made it to them.

"The girl's stuffed animals, Sierra's blanket and Samara's chewy or burp rag that she's been carrying around lately. I know they have everything they need at home with you two so that's all I packed." Stephanie smiled as Santana tossed the backpack onto her shoulder, opposite the side that Sierra was on.

"Yeah, we finished buying everything the girls would need yesterday." Rachel said, tickling Samara's belly. The little girl screeched and started shaking her head no.

"Is there anything else we need to do before we go? We've already signed them out." Santana motioned to the secretary who nodded her head in acknowledgement with a smile.

"Nope, we're all good here. Just bring them back by five on Sunday." Stephanie grinned and clasped her hands together before giving each twin a kiss on the cheek and telling them bye. She knew this weekend was going to be amazing for the girls and Santana and Rachel. As she watched the little family walk out, there was no doubt in her mind that those girls were exactly where they needed to be.

* * *

"Alright ladies, we will be home in a little under an hour...even though you have no idea how long that actually is because you can't tell time." Santana started speaking excitedly, trailing off to a mumble as she realized what it was she was actually saying. Rachel giggled from the other side of the car, shaking her head fondly at Santana.

"Mami go!" Samara cheered, kicking her little legs against the back of the seat. Both girls were still the perfect height and weight to be in rear facing car seats.

"I'm going as fast as I can." Santana laughed while buckling Sierra into her seat. It took a moment, but eventually Santana got the little girl buckled and quickly shut the door. She ran around to the driver's side of the jeep and hopped in. "Let's hit the road." Santana cheered before starting the jeep and starting the short drive to the main road from the home.

Santana was beyond excited but a little nervous to finally be leaving the home with the girls for the weekend. It was happening, there was no going back now, not that Santana wanted to. It was just wow, it was all really real now. Santana was broken from her thoughts by Rachel reaching over and grabbing her hand. She could see the emotion swirling in Rachel's chocolate orbs. She was feeling it too. This was their first weekend as a real family and hopefully it would go as planned. Was this what Puck and Quinn felt when they brought Beth and Davis home for the first time? If so..what a feeling.

Both women's hearts were so full love that it was beginning to spill over in the forms of happy tears. The dream of completing their family was finally coming true. As Santana pulled her jeep out onto the main road she turned on a bit of music, content to drive and hold her her wife's hand as they both listened to the twins babble to themselves.


	88. How Are We Doing?

By the time Rachel and Santana made it to the cabin with the girls, everyone except for Santana had fallen asleep. Rachel's head was leaned against the window and someone was snoring. Santana just hadn't figured out who it was yet. Slowly, Santana nudged Rachel, waking the slumbering woman.

"We're home." Santana whispered excitedly. Undoing her seat belt, Santana jumped out of the jeep and turned around to get Samara out of her seat. It took a moment before Rachel gathered her bearings and jumped out to the same on the other side of the jeep, releasing Sierra.

"I'm sorry I fell asleep, I didn't mean to." Rachel looked across the backseat apologetically.

"It's okay babe. You've only been asleep for like fifteen minutes or so. I wasn't by myself for long." Santana smiled. She knew Rachel was tired and probably one of the first things she planned to do was take a nap with her wife if the twins stayed asleep long enough. She felt like they had been going full force all day, dancing around with nerves waiting to pick up the girls.

"Where are we putting them down at? I don't feel comfortable putting them in their room right away because when they wake up they are going to panic." Rachel whispered worriedly, she shifted the tiny girl in her arms who was resting her head on Rachel's shoulder.

"Let's lay them down on the chaise, we can make a pillow barrier for them. It will be okay, if they panic when they wake up we will take care of it." Santana responded as she slung the girls backpack onto her shoulder and shut the jeep door. Slowly, she and Rachel made their way up onto the porch and opened the cabin door. Both women were a little disappointed that the girls were asleep for their first entrance into their soon to be new home, but it was okay. They would make up for it when the girls got to come home permanently.

* * *

After settling the girls with their blankets and stuffed animals on the chaise, Santana went about introducing Dax and Dahlia to the twins. It wasn't a huge concern seeing at Dax had spent plenty of time around Beth when she was a baby and Dahlia had already been introduced to Davis. When Santana went and retrieved the dogs from the studio, they immediately began attempting to snuff the twins, but Santana put a stop to that so that the girls wouldn't be woken up. Dax was trying to be his sneaky self by pushing his nose into Sierra's little sock covered foot when Santana and Rachel wasn't looking, or he thought wasn't looking. There were new people in the house who _needed_ to play with him. For the time being, he would let them sleep while he and Dahlia kept watch over the cabin from their beds.

Santana was a little amazed at the protective stance that Dax had already taken with the twins. It was like he knew that these girls were very important and that they were there to stay. Rachel watched fondly as Dahlia took several of her toys over to the chaise and laid them down in the floor. The cuteness level in the cabin was about to explode through the roof.

No sooner than when things felt like they were settled for a moment, Sierra began to whimper in her sleep. Rachel and Santana were both on their feet and into the living room just as Sierra started to wail. The baby raised up and looked around sleepily with big tears running down her face. "You're okay baby." Santana cooed as she picked Sierra up and cuddled the tiny tot to her chest. Rachel had sat down on the couch next to Samara's head preparing to pick her up as well seeing as when one twin cried the other joined soon after. However, Samara remained blissfully asleep which Rachel was thankful for.

"Bebe? Raffe?" Sierra cried into Santana's chest. Santana reached over to her right and picked up Sierra's giraffe, placing it under her arm.

"There's your giraffe baby. We need to go find a bebe though." Santana stood up, still holding Sierra close to her chest and made her way into the nursery searching for a pacifier. Sierra continued to whimper, clutching tightly onto Santana's shirt. Her little eyes scanned the new room that they entered, what was this place? Suddenly interested in the new room and completely forgetting about her bebe, Sierra began wiggling in an attempt to get down out of Santana's arms. "What is it love? You want to check out your room? Maybe Mama can wake your sister up and she can come and explore too." Santana spoke a little louder at the end of her sentence so that Rachel would here her.

"Don't worry, we're awake now. No tears, but I think it's because she woke up and I was right there." Rachel stepped into the nursery and sat Samara down on her feet. The little girl looked up and Santana and Rachel hesitantly. "Go ahead baby, this is your room."

Taking a few wobbly steps, both girls began to wonder around the room. Both women watched as Sierra gravitated immediately towards the purple bed while Samara took a liking to the orange. Santana smirked, she had been right all along. Sierra stood on her tippy toes, patting the bed and laughing, her tears completely gone. Samara had lost interest in her bed and began to walk towards the book shelf. There was just so much stuff to look at and _touch_, oh how she wanted to touch everything.

Plopping down on her little butt, Samara began to carefully pull books off the shelf. She studied each cover for a moment before dropping it down to her side. Santana smiled at the actions, even with a room full of toys within her reach or in the toy box in the corner, Samara chose to play with the books. Maybe it was just hopeful thinking, but Santana could already imagine Samara being a famous writer one day. She thought about things like that a lot. What would the girls be when they grew up? Would they take after she and Rachel or would they become mathematicians or scientists, the things they could do would be unlimited.

"Mama, bebe?" Sierra looked up at Rachel hopefully. Mami may have thought that she forgot about her bebe, but she actually hadn't. She just wanted to check out her bed first.

Rachel smiled as she accepted the pacifier that Santana had in her outstretched hand. "There's your bebe. Do you two want to go see the play room and meet the doggies?"

"Ruff, ruufff." Samara barked at Rachel who was trying so hard not to burst out laughing. Santana on the other hand couldn't contain her self.

"Where on earth did you learn that silly girl?" Santana laughed as she picked Samara up and swung her around before sitting her back down on her feet. Rachel took Sierra's hand as all four walked back out into the living room where Dax and Dahlia were waiting patiently. Both women squatted down, resting on the balls of their feet as they stopped in the middle of the living room. Santana waited a moment before calling the dogs over to her. Sierra was a little more reserved in her greetings, choosing to lean as far back into Rachel's front as possible. Samara on the other hand had no reservations as she let Dax and Dahlia both lick her face before wrapping her little arms tightly around Dax like he was the greatest stuffed animal to ever live.

Santana looked over to Rachel and smiled. It was the start of their weekend and so far things were going okay. Sierra was letting Dahlia sniff her hand, laughing at the puppy; Samara looked as if she was about to try and ride Dax, which Santana knew immediately she was going to have make sure that didn't happen. They still had to show the girls the playroom and get dinner ready, take baths and eventually put the girls to bed, but for now they were content to sit on the floor and play with the dogs enjoying their first moments as a family.

* * *

Santana patted herself on the back as she finished blowing up the twins inflatable bath tubs. It was getting close to bath time and probably what would be the worst part of the day, bed time. After spending a good while playing with the dogs, Santana and Rachel had given the twins an official tour of the cabin that ended in the playroom. The girls had been delighted and immediately began to play with one of the floor puzzles that Santana had laid out. They didn't really understand what they were doing, but to them it was one of the greatest things in the world.

Dinner had been an interesting time that ended up being far more messy than anyone had anticipated. Both twins had ended up covered in their pot pie that Rachel had made. Santana shook her head and peeped into the kitchen where the girls still sat in their high chairs. Rachel was keeping them entertained as to give Santana plenty of time to get their bath tubs ready. Santana wanted to thank whoever invented these things as they were plenty big enough for each girl to have ample play room, yet small enough that they fit in the shower at the same time and allowed room for Rachel and Santana to walk around. Santana was ever thankful that when she had remodeled the bathroom many years ago that she chose a large walk in shower, who knew that one day she would be sitting baby bath tubs in there.

"San? Are you about done?" Rachel called out from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I am just going to start filling these up so they're plenty weighted when the girls get in them. We definitely don't want them to tip over." Santana responded as she stood up and walked through the kitchen and into the bathroom.

"Okay, while you do that, I will start stripping these two little messy monsters and then one of us can go get pajamas and diapers." Rachel blew a piece of hair out of her face. She was tired and close to being ready for bed herself. However, she knew that they were in for the long haul tonight and most likely tomorrow night. If she could handle all night rehearsals and doing eight shows every week, she could definitely handle this.

* * *

"How do you think we're doing so far?" Santana asked Rachel as they worked simultaneously dressing the twins in their ladybug and caterpillar pajamas. The twins had absolutely loved playing in their bathtubs, splashing around and tossing their toys out only for Rachel and Santana both to pick them back up.

"I think we're doing great." Rachel looked over her shoulder and smiled at Santana. Her eyes twinkling with love and happiness watching her wife dress one of their babies. Santana blew a raspberry on Sierra's tummy making the little girl screech and try and wiggle away from her Mami.

"I think so too. Now...it's time for these two little ones to have a cup of milk, have a bed time story and rock with Mami and Mama." Santana picked Sierra up off of her bed and snuggled the little girl to her chest. She turned and pulled up the bed rail on the outside portion of the bed before doing the same to Samara's bed. While Santana done that, Rachel had ran to get the twins cups of milk, she stopped when she entered the room and flipped on the shelf lights that Santana was so enamored with. Those lights had been one of the very reasons why Santana didn't want any other shelves to put in the girls room. They looked cool and they were the perfect soft night light for the girls.

"Mami, do you want to read to us?" Rachel was in the process of shifting Samara around in her lap, attempting to find them the most comfortable position in the glider. She handed the little girl her sippy cup, chewy and stuffed horse before grabbing a light blanket to cover them up with.

Santana nodded her head before picking out a book and settling down in the glider opposite to Rachel. They had decided to keep both gliders in the nursery and place them at forty-five degree angles at the end of each bed. They wouldn't stay like this forever, but the women wanted the girls to be able to see each other as they fell asleep. New, scary places didn't seem so scary when you had someone there with you. "Okay, we're going to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar." Santana announced after Sierra was settled in her lap almost the same way that Samara was settled in Rachel's.

Both girls were already struggling to keep their eyes open before Santana even made it halfway through the book. Santana predicted that if either girl had trouble sleeping tonight, then most likely it would be Sierra who's tired little eyes would pop back open looking for her sister every time she was almost asleep. The sippy cups were long forgotten as Santana and Rachel rocked back and forth and continued to read. They listened for the heavier breathes from each girl to know that they were truly asleep before even thinking of standing up.

When the girls were sound asleep, every floor board creak seemed to be ten thousand times louder than what it normally was. Santana and Rachel both took turns giving each twin goodnight kisses and making sure that all of their special items were in the bed with them before turning on the baby monitor and sneaking out of the nursery leaving the door partially opened. Santana just knew that Dax would end up in the nursery, sleeping on the rug that lay between the girls beds.

"I think that went pretty well. First night and it only took us an hour roughly to get them both to sleep." Rachel whispered as she studied the baby monitor, making sure it was turned up to a proper volume.

"We will get faster, I mean it was our first night." Santana shrugged her shoulders before peering into the nursery. She knew that they twins were asleep, but she felt odd about just walking away from the nursery room door. What if they woke up crying?

"Then we will check on them." Rachel responded. Santana didn't even know that she had said that last part out loud. "Come on you, it's not our bed time yet and I want a little bit of ice cream before we shower and change into our pajamas. It's okay, they're okay." Rachel reassured Santana when she saw the woman's hesitancy. "You can't stand here by their door all night love."

"Can we make up a bed on the couch then? I don't want to be too far away tonight." Rachel smiled as she nodded before standing on her tippy toes a bit to give Santana a kiss. Of course they could make a bed on the couch for the weekend, it would be much more convenient for the time being. Santana was grateful that Rachel had agreed to the couch bed, relief immediately washed over her. She knew she couldn't do this every single night after the girls moved in, but for now, it was fine. In Santana's opinion, bed time couldn't have gone better, the first day and night to their super special weekend was almost in the bag and it had went amazingly. It was the perfect precursor for hopefully what was also going to be an amazing day tomorrow.


	89. Let The Weekend Begin

Sierra slowly blinked her eyes open. She was in a room, but this wasn't her normal room. Looking to her left she saw her sister sleeping away. Wiggling around in her bed, Sierra dislodged the blanket that was draped over her. The little girl sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes. She could see light coming from the other room, who was in there? Deciding that she didn't want to stay in bed any longer, Sierra crawled to the end of her bed where the opening was next to her bed rails. Giggling to herself, the tiny girl crossed the length of the nursery, the feet of her pajamas causing to her slip on the hardwood floors. Thankfully she didn't fall. Carefully the little girl contemplated her next move. Should she stay and play with the toys that looked very interesting or should she go investigate the warm glowing light coming from the living room? Turning to look at her sister, Sierra decided that she should go investigate, playing alone just wasn't that much fun anyways. Slowly the little girl pushed the door open, gasping in delight when she saw her Mami and Mama laying on the couch.

* * *

Santana stirred in her sleep when she heard a door creak. Thinking it was just Dax or Dahlia finally making their way into the nursery, she turned over, careful not to dislodge Rachel and began to slowly fall back into a deep sleep. That was until she heard the unmistakable giggle of one of the girls. Was she dreaming? When she didn't hear it again, Santana determined that she was in fact possibly dreaming, but then she felt something on her arm. A little startled, Santana sat up right on the couch rubbing her arm where she swore she thought something was crawling on her. She didn't mean to wake Rachel up, but with the quick motion it was inevitable that she had.

"What's going on?" Rachel mumbled sleepily.

"I thought something was crawling on me." Santana responded while still rubbing her arm. In the midst of trying to wake herself up, she hadn't taken the time to turn around and actually look down in front of the couch. If she had, she would have seen Sierra sitting on her butt about to start crying.

Rachel sat up, looking around Santana for anything that may have been on her. She started to laugh when she peered over Santana and looked down in the floor. "I think there was a lady bug on you." Rachel nodded her head towards the floor.

"A lady..what?" Santana turned around and looked down. Her heart broke immediately when she saw Sierra sitting in the floor with the biggest pout on her tiny little face. "What are you doing in here love?" Santana asked as she leaned over and picked Sierra up, sitting the little girl in her lap.

Thinking she was in trouble, Sierra's face officially crumbled into tears. It didn't help that she had gotten scared when Santana jumped awake. All she wanted was to wake Mami so she could play.

"Oh no, baby don't cry. It's okay. Did Mami scare you? I didn't mean to." Santana comforted Sierra against her chest, rubbing circles on the tiny tots back.

As if on que and sensing her sisters crying, Samara woke and immediately burst into tears at being all alone in the nursery. Rachel was quick to scramble over top of Sierra and Santana and make her way into the nursery. Santana could hear Rachel shushing Samara, trying to get her to calm down. _Come on, we can go in here with Mami and Sierra._

_Mami? Si si? _Samara murmered. Her crying had already dissolved into whimpers, her immediate comfort at seeing Rachel evident.

"Look, there's Mami and Sisi." Rachel pointed as she adjusted Samara on her hip and walked back into the living room. "Do you think they will stay in there once we get them back to sleep?" Rachel asked as she sat back down next to Santana who was rocking back and forth with Sierra.

"I think they should, I mean they made it almost the whole night anyway." Santana nodded to the clock on the wall that read four, forty five.

* * *

After what felt like forever to Santana and Rachel, both girls fell back into deep sleeps. Samara had taken residence on Rachel's chest, her head tucked into the side of Rachel's neck. Sierra had went completely limp, laying across Santana's arms like she was still a newborn. Instead of moving the girls back to their beds, Santana and Rachel both had decided to just stay where they where. Santana snuggled into the corner of the couch while Rachel laid against her side. Santana was lucky she didn't have to pee because she was trapped. She knew this was a dangerous game they were playing, letting the girls sleep with them like this, but they could worry about that later. Right now, Santana was content to hold her girls and catch a few more hours of sleep before their fun filled day of breakfast at the diner, visiting the new fun center in St. Lawrence, maybe some shopping and then returning home for dinner. It was going to be an amazing day, that is, if the girls could handle it. Santana knew at some point, most likely during shopping that the girls were going to need a nap, if not they would have two incredibly cranky little girls.

* * *

Once everyone was awake, Santana took a moment to fix she and Rachel some coffee before they started getting themselves and the twins ready to head out. Rachel took her turn in the shower while Santana worked on getting both girls dressed. It was...interesting to say the least. Dressing two wiggly almost one and half year olds by yourself was a struggle. Both wanted to play and investigate their room instead of listening to their Mami that it was almost time to go bye bye.

"Sierra, time to get your clothes on please." Santana called from her spot on the floor between the twins beds. Samara was already dressed in a fresh diaper, an under onesie, blue jeans, a long sleeve shirt and her little sneakers. Sierra was partially dressed at least in a fresh diaper and her onesie, but she still needed to put the rest of her clothes on.

"No, Mami." Sierra laughed as she scrambled onto her bed to try and get away from Santana.

"Yes, lady bug. Don't you want to go see the neat stuff at the fun center with me, Mama and Samara?" Santana raised her voice in an excited way hoping to get Sierra interested. Rachel had discovered the fun center when they were looking up things to do with the twins. Apparently this place had themed rooms where the children could learn about the world, space and the ocean, among other things. There was also a very big tumble room accompanied with giant inflatable slides and a bouncy house. To be honest, Santana was excited to play on the inflatables, but she would never actually admit that out loud.

"Wet's go!" Samara began to chant as she ran around in circles. Santana began to wonder if the little bit of morning milk that Samara had had sugar in it.

"Someone is excited to get going." Rachel chuckled from where she had appeared in the doorway of the nursery. "Your turn San."

"Mama! Go bye bye?" Sierra asked pointedly at Rachel.

"We're all going bye bye, but you need to get dressed first." Rachel walked over the bed, reveling in the feeling of having Sierra fall into her arms. Santana looked on with a little bit of disbelief. "Why didn't you let Mami get you dressed?"

"Sam." Sierra said as she shrugged her shoulders, like it was the most logical explanation in the world.

"Was you trying to give Mami a break since she was busy dressing Samara?" Rachel nodded her head, causing Sierra to nod hers as well. Sierra probably had no idea what she was agreeing to, but it was cute nonetheless.

Santana couldn't help but to laugh, her girls were beyond silly. "Well since you want Mama to dress you, I am going to go get ready myself. Do we need to add anything to their diaper bag before we go?" Santana asked Rachel as she stood up and handed over the outfit, socks and sneakers that she had in her hands.

"I don't think so. They've already had their milk and I moved their sippy cups of juice over when I came through the kitchen. We already have extra diapers, pacifiers, wipes and a few snacks packed. Double check me just to make sure and see what you think, if we need to add anything or not." Rachel went through her mental check list. As far as she knew everything they would need for today was in the diaper bag, but it never hurt to check.

"I trust you, but I will look just so you don't start worrying about it later on today if we need something that we wished we had thought to bring." Santana kissed Rachel on the temple and then Sierra on the forehead before leaving the room. Samara had finally stopped running circles and was busy reading a book in the twins little reading corner.

* * *

Once everyone was ready to go, the Berry-Lopez family headed into McKinley for breakfast. The girls enjoyed their little pancakes to the max, Santana was glad that she had in fact checked the diaper bag and changed both girls out of their nicer shirts into two older ones, deciding to pack the nicer shirts. Syrup was not your friend, they were just lucky that the girls hadn't gotten it on their pants or in their hair.

Now they were all back into the car ready to make the short trip to St. Lawrence for the day. The twins really had no idea what they were about to experience, they were just excited to be out and about. Rachel was taking every opportunity she could to snap photos, she wanted to make sure that they remembered every moment as their first outing as a family. Santana was quiet as she drove, smiling as Rachel was stretching her arm as far as it would go to try and get the camera around the sides of the girls cart seats.

"Well, Sierra just fell asleep on me." Rachel huffed as she looked down at her latest picture, noticing Sierra's eyes were closed. Deciding that her arm was tired and she needed to be in her seat right, Rachel slipped her camera into the glove box out of the way for now.

"That's okay, let her sleep. You can take tons of more pictures at the fun center. They will turn out better than snapping side shots of them back there." Santana replied as she rested her hand on Rachel's thigh.

"Do you think they are going to have fun?" Rachel was a little skeptical that the girls might not actually enjoy anything the center had to offer.

"I think they will. Even if they don't like a certain room, I am sure they will enjoy the tumble room. I know I would have when I was little." Santana laughed as she put the jeep on cruise.

Rachel scoffed at Santana saying she would have enjoyed it when she was little. "You're going to enjoy it now at thirty one years old."

Santana gasped in mock horror. "Who told you that?"

"No one had to tell me." Rachel cackled. "It was written all over your face when I reserved four arm bands, instead of two."

Santana sighed, realizing she had been caught. So much for never admitting that you were actually still a big kid at heart. "Yeah..well. While, I am excited to play in the tumble room myself, I am more excited to play with the girls in there."

"Me too." Rachel squeezed Santana's hand that was still resting on her thigh. "I can't wait until we get there."

"We still have about a half an hour before that, so sit back and relax. Maybe Samara will decide to take a nap too and they will be refreshed and ready to play." Santana looked in the rear view mirror at the girls car seats, she couldn't see Sierra at all, which meant she was curled up like a little bug, however she could see Samara raising her hands up and down letting her Mami know that she was wide awake.


	90. Day Out

When Santana pulled up outside of the fun center, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting. The front of the building was purple painted brick with giant letters across the front spelling out Explorer's United Fun Center. Okay, so the name was a little odd, kinda vague, but eh, it worked. Whoever had named the place, apparently just wasn't that creative in retrospect. Turning off the jeep, Santana opened her door and climbed out. Hopefully both girls were ready to wake up. Samara had fallen asleep moments after Santana had seen her hands in the air.

"Lady bugs. Time to wake up." Santana cooed as she opened the back door. Rachel was just watching Santana fondly from the opposite side of the jeep. Both girls stirred as they were lifted from their car seats, but neither woke up.

"What are we going to do if they don't wake up right now?" Rachel asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, they will wake up once they hear all the screeching children inside. The place looks pretty full." Santana looked around the decent sized parking lot. There were at leas fifteen other cars around.

"Let's just hope they wake up in a good mood." Rachel sucked her teeth really hoping that the twins didn't wake up cranky.

* * *

Once Santana and Rachel had entered the building they were greeted by a young teenage boy with a bright purple shirt on. Really, the thing was blinding to look at. After giving the women their arm bands he directed them to one of two quiet rooms that the fun center had to offer. Turns out these quiet rooms were sound proof and offered fairly comfortable chairs for families to sit while their children just took a break if they needed it. Santana was thankful that these rooms were here, now the twins could finish out their naps before the fun was to begin.

To no one's surprise the twins did wake up cranky. However, some snuggles and a snack easily brought back around both girls happy tentative nature. It didn't take long before they were ready to go explore and see what this fun center had to offer.

The first room that the little family visited was dedicated to space. The whole room was lit with a black light making the stars, galaxies and planets strung around the room glow. It was honestly beautiful and Santana and Rachel would have stayed longer but the twins didn't take too kindly to the darkness. Immediately they moved onto the next room dedicated to the ocean. The walls were lined with aquariums filled with different fish. Sierra and Samara were quickly awed and had to be stopped from pressing their little faces right up against the glass. Santana was sure that the workers cleaned these tanks fifteen times a day with all the little nose prints that were already on the glass.

The next few rooms consisted of an outdoor enclosed rain forest that was sweltering hot, no one stayed in there long. However the girls were able to learn about different animals that lived in the rain forest so that was a plus. There was also a safari room which Sierra absolutely adored, she wanted to take the giant stuffed giraffe home with her. This place was more like a museum than anything with electronic signs that spit facts at you when you pressed the button. Rachel and Santana wished it had more things that the children could interact with, but honestly, everyone knew people came for the tumble room.

This is where Santana and Rachel now found themselves, climbing up the giant inflatable slides. They had already spent a few minutes in one of the balls pits, rolled around on some large foam wheels and climbed through several foam tunnels. The twins were attempting to make their way up the ladder of the slide at the moment, but their little feet kept slipping. Santana was half tempted to pack both of them up the ladder so they could get to the top just a little bit faster. They were just having so much fun sliding back down every time they fell. It was amusing for Santana to watch.

* * *

"I think it's about time we pack up the girls and head home, San." Rachel called out as she was putting Sierra and Samara's socks back on.

"Just a few more minutes. I am about to beat Buddy boy here in the relay race again." Santana whined and then growled at a ten year old next to her.

"Santana..you are an adult. Act like one." Rachel huffed. She was tired, the girls were tired and Santana just seemed to have endless amounts of energy today. This wasn't the first relay race she had ran with the other kids that were playing in the tumble room.

"Fineeee. Me and you next time kid." Santana gave Buddy the I am watching you hand gesture before turning around and walking over to Rachel. She knelt down next to the brunette woman and kissed her on the cheek before helping her to put the twins socks on. Both girls were officially knocked out, flat on their backs on one of the mats snoring softly. They were truly wore out. After playing on the slides for what seemed like hours, the twins had decided that they wanted to play in the bounce house and balls pits again. Santana didn't mind, she was all for getting in the inflatables with the girls so that the older kids wouldn't hurt them. Her protective mama bear stance had definitely came out.

"I had a lot of fun today." Rachel spoke quietly as she picked up Sierra's sleeping form and cradled the little girl to her chest.

"I did too. The rooms could have been better, but I think the girls liked them for the most part." Santana picked up Samara and the twins diaper bag as she and Rachel headed towards the exit doors.

"They will appreciate them more when they are older. They both went crazy over the aquariums so that was a good thing and they loved playing with us and the other kids." Rachel smiled at the worker who was holding the door open for them.

"We will have to find more fun things to do on the weekends when they move in permanently with us." Santana closed the back door of the jeep after buckling Samara into her seat.

"That sounds like a brilliant idea. Now, do we still want to cook when we get home or would you rather just stop and get something for dinner?" Rachel fidgeted in her seat so that she got comfortable.

"I vote we stop and get something. I know we had plans to make pasta, but I am tired. I forgot how much energy little kids have when they are in groups with other kids." Santana sighed as she started the jeep, letting it warm up a bit before they pulled out of the parking lot. "I can make the pasta some other time."

"That works for me. So, what do you want to eat?" Rachel really hoped that Santana already had something in mind so that she wouldn't have to pick.

"I have no idea. What do you want?" Santana asked while pulling her seat belt across her lap and chest. Rachel sighed and gently thumped her head against the window. Did everyone always have this issue? The whole, _I will eat whatever you want as long as it's not one of the ten places you just named. _Santana ignored Rachel's disheartened sigh, she was just messing with her. She knew exactly what she wanted.

* * *

After stopping at Rachel's favorite Thai restaurant, which she was ecstatic about, the little family continued on their way home. It was still early evening which meant that after eating they would have a bit of time to play before the girls had to get ready for bed. It was bittersweet in a way. Both women were happy that the weekend had went so well, however they were incredibly sad that the weekend was almost over. On the other hand with such a fantastic weekend they were bound to get the girls moved in permanently in the next week or so.

Santana really wanted to throw something like a welcome home party, similar to what she had done when Rachel had returned from her press tour at the beginning of the summer. The girls deserved a proper welcome into the family and this was one way to do that. All the grandparents could be there, along with Puck, Quinn, Beth and Davis. It made sense to have the people there that the girls had been around the most and actually knew. Too many people would just be incredibly overwhelming for them. If she was going to do this, she needed to talk to Rachel and work out the details, hopefully the woman would be on board, Santana would find out tonight at bed time.

* * *

"Eat, lady bug. It's noodles. You love noodles." Rachel was trying to coax Samara into eating, but the little girl just wasn't having it. She had this sad little look on her face, leaning all the way back in her high chair as far away from her plate as she could go. Rachel sighed and looked at Santana worriedly, she had no idea what was going on or how to fix it.

When they had arrived home, everyone was in a good mood. Santana had taken the dogs out for a walk, keeping them on their leashes so that she could get back inside quickly and they could all have dinner together. Sierra and Samara had ran straight into their nursery and began to play with their toys. It just seemed that the darker it got outside, the darker Samara's mood got on the inside.

"Sam! Noonoo's!" Sierra screeched and held out a handful of noodles to Samara. Rachel smiled at the generosity of the little girl. Sierra began to laugh before trying to stuff her entire fist of noodles into her mouth, kicking her feet happily.

"NO!" Samara yelled and smacked at Sierra who stopped mid bite to look at her sister horrified. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears, even though Samara's hand had came nowhere close to even touching Sierra.

"Okay..." Santana chuckled awkwardly. "I think someone is done with dinner."

"No Mami." Samara gave Santana her best angry face.

"No? You're not done with dinner?" Santana asked as she stood up from her chair and came to stand next to Samara's high chair. Samara didn't answer, just continued to scowl at Santana. "Do you want Mami to feed you?" Santana picked up Samara's fork and attempted to offer her some noodles. The tiny tot didn't respond with anything other than closing her mouth tightly. Santana sighed, should she offer Samara something different to eat? This was the first time she had ever witnessed one of the girls being this moody and picky about eating.

"Maybe, she doesn't like noodles anymore?" Rachel suggested. She kept watching Sierra out of the corner of her eye to see if the baby was actually going to cry or not. She still had tears in her eyes like her whole world had been shifted, but she was at least eating while watching her sister with rapt attention.

"Hmm. Do you want a bite of Mami's food?" Santana stepped over to her bowl and plate where she picked up her spoon with a bite of curry on it. If this was any other night she wouldn't be doing this because normally she got spicy curry, tonight though, she had wanted something different without the risk of heart burn later on. Samara watched Santana intently, debating whether or not to open her mouth. Tentatively Samara opened her mouth and tasted what her Mami had offered. She scrunched her nose up in thought before opening her mouth again, wanting another bite. Santana and Rachel both cheered silently in their heads, crisis averted. Samara just didn't like noodles anymore, problem solved.

"Me bite!" Sierra yelled looking between Santana and Rachel. It wasn't fair, she loved her noodles but she wanted whatever it was that Samara was having too! Santana laughed as she gave Sierra a bite too and watched her smack her lips happily. Every day was a new learning experience with them, it was fun to watch them try and like new foods. This was something that would never get old for a long time.

* * *

With the dinner fiasco avoided, both twins ate until their little tummies were full. The rest of the evening was spent in the same fashion as the previous. Sierra and Samara spent their time playing with the dogs and running back and forth between their play room and nursery. It was like they couldn't get enough of the puzzles, books, dolls and other toys that they had.

When it got later in the evening, Santana and Rachel once again tag teamed the twins to get them bathed and into bed at a decent hour. Thankfully the bed time routine went a little bit smoother and both girls were asleep before either of them had finished half of their sippy cups of milk. It was then that Rachel and Santana settled onto the couch, talking about the details of the welcome home party that they were going to throw for the girls. Santana was just happy that Rachel was on the same page as she was when it came to planning this thing.

Despite their heavy hearts for what was to come the next day, the women fell asleep easily, thankful that the weekend had went as well as it did. They were one step closer to becoming the full time parents of the twins. Besides their marriage and upcoming wedding this was going to be the highlight of their year and it meant more to them than anyone could ever know.


	91. We Go Too

Santana sighed as she pulled her jeep into the St. Lawrence Children's Home parking lot. She had been successful in her mission to not cry today, Rachel however wasn't doing well. The tears and quiet sniffles had started as soon as Santana turned onto the last stretch of road leading to the home. They still had a few minutes before they had to go in, probably some of the most painful minutes they would ever experience.

The girls were really oblivious to what was about to happen. Both of them were tucked up in their car seats talking or well more like babbling back and forth with one another. They hadn't been paying attention when Santana packed their backpack up with their things, they just assumed they were going on another trip like yesterday. It was going to be heart breaking when they realized that at least for now, they wouldn't be leaving with Rachel and Santana.

"We can do this." Santana whispered as she reached over and took Rachel's hand into her own.

"I wish we didn't have to though." Rachel sniffled again before reaching into the glove box for a Kleenex. She didn't want to have cry face while walking into the home. Afterwards, however, it wouldn't matter.

"They'll be home again soon. This is just temporary." Santana gave Rachel's hand a firm squeeze. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "We have to go or we will be late."

"Okay." Rachel took a deep breath and opened the passenger side door. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

Rachel felt like the world had turned into a blur as she made her way across the parking lot with Samara in her arms. The little girl was talking Rachel's ear off, moving her hands around like she was telling the greatest story in the world. Sierra remained oblivious to what was going on as she walked along beside Santana. There were no cars moving around, so Santana had felt it was okay to let Sierra walk as long as she held her Mami's hand. It was like tunnel vision for Rachel, all she could see was Santana walking hunched over keeping a firm grip on Sierra.

Before they knew it, they were inside the office lobby where they had to sign the girls back in. Stephanie was already waiting up front, sitting off to the side as to try and not alarm the twins too early about what was about to happen. Santana glanced over at Rachel, the shorter woman had a pained look on her face, Santana imagined that hers looked similar. The older lady behind the desk gave both women a small sad smile. This wasn't her first drop off at a children's home and it wouldn't be her last. You could always tell by the faces what was about to happen.

"Uhm..okay. Girls...Mama and I have to explain something to you." Santana stepped away from the counter and turned her back to the secretary and Stephanie. Squatting down on the balls of her feet, Santana struggled to find the words to explain this. How do you tell two seventeen month olds that even though you just spent the weekend together, they had to come back to the home and stay here for a little while longer? Santana knew that they probably should have talked about this more this past weekend, but why put a damper on things like that? It just wasn't fair.

"You see Ms. Stephanie over there?" Rachel asked the twins and then pointed at the woman who still hadn't moved from her spot. There was no way she was going to intrude on this moment. The twins looked over as they started to smile and wave. They loved Steph! She was their best friend who always took care of them. "You two have to stay here with her and Mama and Mami have to go bye bye."

"Go bye bye?" Sierra looked between her Mama and Mami confused. Why were they going bye bye already? They just got here.

"Yeah, go bye bye. Mami and Mama have to go bye bye." Santana was trying her best to stay strong, but this was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do in her life.

Samara toddled towards the door, looking back over her shoulder. Why weren't Mami and Mama following if they were going bye bye? Santana and Rachel shared a hesitant look.

"Where are you going lady bug?" Rachel called out.

"We go bye bye."

"No baby. You and your sister are staying with Steph, just me and Mami are going bye bye." Rachel waved the toddler back over to her. This was so hard, they didn't understand what was happening. Both women looked over to Stephanie for help. Finally, the woman stood up and made her way over.

"Come give me and Mami, hugs and kisses so that you can go have dinner and see your little friends." Rachel opened her arms, allowing Samara to fall into her. For the moment the girls seemed to shake off the confusion, they really liked hugs and kisses. It wasn't until both Rachel and Santana stood up after countless hugs, kisses and promises that they would be coming back home soon that Stephanie tried to take the hands of the twins. That was when they realized that they weren't leaving with Santana and Rachel.

In that instant all hell broke loose. Sierra and Samara both struggled to break away from Stephanie, they were fighting her every step of the way. When Stephanie wouldn't let go, she wasn't hurting them at all, they began to scream and cry begging for their mothers. Santana and Rachel both made short steps in attempts to get to the twins, but Stephanie subtly shook her head no. The rules had to be followed, no matter how heart breaking it was for all parties involved. If she turned back now and let the twins go back to their mothers it would just be a continuous cycle of screaming and crying every time they tried to leave. That wasn't fair to any of them.

Rachel and Santana stood rooted in their spot, knowing they couldn't cross that line and go down the hallway. They had to just stand there watching their babies cry out for them and there was nothing they could do. Their visit was over and it was time to leave. The girls would be okay once they were back in their room...hopefully. With tears running down their cheeks, Santana and Rachel walked back to the jeep with their arms wrapped around one another. Soon there would be no more goodbye's like this, at least until the girls went off to college. The next few weeks couldn't pass any quicker.

* * *

When Rachel and Santana returned home for the evening, they made no move to put the twins toys away or temporarily hide the fact that they were there. The cabin wasn't messy by any means, it was just that they had no energy to move the baby doll that was positioned so carefully on the couch with its little blanket. Santana chuckled at the memory of Sierra insisting that the "baby eat" too. Leaving it was an incentive more than anything to say that they were really there. Maybe it was a bit silly for the women to stand at the nursery door just looking at the room, taking it all in. Of course it was adding more pain onto their already broken hearts, but it was also that beautiful light at the end of a long tunnel.

* * *

The following Monday, Rachel went back to work since she really needed to get some more work done on her album before the holiday break started at the studio. Thanksgiving was quickly approaching; she and Santana hadn't spoken much about what they planned to do this year. The previous years they had went on mini-vacations, but this year was hopefully going to be different. They just knew that all of their parents were going to be in town, fingers crossed that the girls would be here too. If not, maybe they could talk to Alison about at least getting them for the day or weekend again.

While Rachel was at work, Santana threw herself into a long list of commissions that Artie had acquired for her to do. Tis' the season and it seemed as if everyone wanted paintings as gifts this year. That was totally fine with Santana, because the more paintings she done the more money she would be able to add into her savings accounts. Speaking of savings accounts, Santana knew that she needed to sit down and start figuring up all the costs that was going to be occurring next Summer when the renovations on the cabin started. Not having the money wasn't an issue, Santana was just particular about having things laid out in front of her.

There was still so much going on in their lives at the moment. Tuesday the wedding designers called to set up appointments for Rachel and Santana to come in and look at some 3D renderings of what their wedding would look like. They also had appointments with Kurt for fittings. The one good thing about having Kurt design their wedding outfits was that he already had their sizes from previous clothing that he had made for them. All they had to do now was come in, see if they liked them (there was no doubt they would), and see if there was anything he needed to alter or fix. Santana still had no idea what exactly was going on with her parents. Every time they spoke, nothing about offers was ever mentioned and Santana wasn't exactly sure how to bring it up. She knew she was going to have to just bite the bullet and ask eventually.

They didn't hear anything from Alison until Thursday when she called to ask how the weekend had went in their opinion. Rachel and Santana both used every ounce of time they could to tell Alison all about the fun they had while the girls were there for their visit. They could tell the woman was trying to remain neutral about the whole ordeal, however you could hear the lightness in her voice that everything had went so well. She had also talked to Stephanie who had explained that even though she didn't have much of a chance to talk to the women, she just knew that the twins had been fine based on their reaction at the drop off. There was no way that children who had had a bad weekend would scream and cry that much for someone who had hurt them. Just like they all knew, the twins were in good hands and they always would be. When Rachel and Santana hung up the phone, their world felt just a little bit brighter, because once again they were one step closer to getting the girls permanently.

* * *

Later Thursday evening, Santana sat on the window seat of the bay window in the loft. The snow was falling at a steady pace. She was glad that after speaking to Alison that morning she had spent the day making sure the snow-mobile was tuned up and running good before moving the jeep and Rachel's car down to the garage at the end of the road. Santana turned and smiled when she heard Rachel coming up the stairs.

"Hey baby." Rachel spoke quietly. She was carrying two mugs of hot chocolate, trying to walk as light as a feather so that she wouldn't spill. Her hair was wet, evident she had just gotten out of the shower. "Why are you up here by yourself? I thought you were still downstairs."

"I don't know. This is the best place to watch it snow." Santana graciously accepted the mug of hot chocolate, holding Rachel's for her so that she could settle against Santana on the window seat. "I miss them, so much." Santana sighed and rested the side of her head on top of Rachel's.

"I do too. But, they will be home soon and then we can all sit up here and snuggle while watching it snow." Santana really liked that idea, she just hoped it happened sooner rather than later.


	92. Made It Home

It was two weeks before Rachel and Santana heard anything else from Alison. Sure they had been allowed to visit the girls in the home, but leaving them was just as hard each time. The twins always thought that they would get to go home, only to be super disappointed when that didn't happen. It was truly taking its toll on Rachel and Santana. They had both threw themselves into their work trying to get as much done as they could before Rachel's holiday break. Santana had had Artie post a final notice on her website that all orders after a certain date would not be completed until next year. She deserved a break just like anyone else, especially when Artie had already gathered a significant list of orders. If someone truly couldn't wait until next year for an original, there was an option to order a print of something that Santana had previously done. It was a courtesy that most people truly appreciated.

As the number of days left until the holiday's dwindled down, Rachel and Santana were beginning to lose hope of getting the girls before Thanksgiving. It wasn't until that Monday, the start of the holiday week that they finally received the phone call that they had been waiting on.

* * *

Santana stumbled around in the kitchen searching for her phone that she had left down stairs the night before. You would think she would learn to remember to bring it upstairs with her by now, but nope. The kitchen would always be her phones resting place.

"Hello?" Santana's voice was still groggy from sleep.

_Santana...I have some news._

"Who is this?" Santana pulled her phone away from her ear, squinting at the screen.

_It's Alison. Listen...you and Rachel...can come pick the girls up this morning._

"What...For the holiday or for good?" Santana wasn't sure she was hearing Alison correctly.

_For good. As long as you don't miss the final hearing in the morning._

"RACHEL!" Santana screamed as she nearly dropped her phone and sprinted up the stairs. Rachel sat straight up in bed, looking around frantically. "Get up! We can go get our girls this morning!" Santana continued to yell as she thrust her phone into Rachel's face.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel grabbed the phone out of Santana's hand. "Alison what's going on?"

Alison laughed a little before responding. _You and Santana are free to pick up the girls this morning. Their final adoption hearing is in the morning, it's time._

"OH MY GOSH" Rachel screamed and tossed the phone down on the bed before jumping into Santana's arms. "It's happening, it's finally happening. They're going to be ours, officially!"

"I know!" Santana began to laugh and cry at the same time, completely forgetting about Alison still on the phone.

Alison sat in her office smiling, listening to the two women celebrate. She decided that she would just call them back later with some more details about what was happening in the morning. For now, they could have their moment with each other. Next, she had to call the home and make sure that the twins would be ready to go for whenever the women made it out there. Alison knew for a fact that they would be there sooner rather than later.

* * *

Santana and Rachel wasted no time is getting themselves ready to head to the home. Alison had called back and explained that the home knew they were coming and that she and Mercedes would meet them there. They had to sign off on the girls files that they were being released into the custody of Santana and Rachel. She had also explained on the phone that they had to be at the court house in St. Lawrence at eight sharp in the morning. The hearing would be so that the judge could sign off on the papers and everyone could sign the girls new amended birth certificates. They were able to avoid some of the hearings that some adoptive parents go through because the girls birth mother had signed her rights away officially not long after the incident at the home had occurred. Santana and Rachel were just happy that this wasn't going to take much longer and they could officially be a little family.

As the women once again found themselves standing in the lobby of the home, they basked in the feeling that this would be the last time they would ever be here for this reason. As they had stated before they had plans to always be involved in some way with the home, maybe they could help out with something for Christmas in particular this year. Christmas..the wedding! The girls would be home for all of this now, they were going to have to call Kurt and let him know that the girls would be needing flower girl dresses. Beth was going to be a flower girl but changed her mind when Santana asked if she would be one of her and Rachel's brides maids. Quinn and Tina were the Maid of Honors, while Kurt was going to stand up with Rachel as her unofficial brides maid and lastly Sierra and Samara would stand on the alter one step down from Rachel and Santana.

As Rachel and Santana sat waiting for, they assumed Stephanie, to bring the girls out; Agetha and Chloe approached them. The two women had tears in their eyes, they knew the moment had arrived and they were here to send two of their most precious tots off into a new world. When they had came up with the idea to ask for Santana's help with the home, they never imagined that any of this would happen. It was inevitable though, you don't come into the St. Lawrence Children's Home and not fall in love with the children.

"You two are going to be amazing mothers." Agetha stood in front of Rachel and Santana with her hands clasped under her chin. "Every child in this home deserves the world and you two are exactly that for those little girls."

"We actually came out here to get you. The girls are in the dining hall with everyone else." Chloe wiped her eyes with a tissue that she had been carrying in her fist.

Santana and Rachel shared a look with one another before they stood and was lead out of a side door and across the way and into the dining hall. All of the children were in there having breakfast, Sierra and Samara standing out as everyone seemed to be hovering around them.

"Whenever one or more of the children leave the home, we kind of like to through them a little celebration. Since the girls are leaving on such short notice, we couldn't do much. But they have had cupcakes already, courtesy of one of the chefs." Chloe giggled behind her hand. She wasn't going to give away who had made the cupcakes for the girls, Santana and Rachel didn't need to know.

Santana and Rachel were busy looking around the room at the paper streamers and many colorful drawings. This was for their girls, they were definitely going to have to do something bigger for their welcome home party or maybe plan something like a giant day out for the entire home. It would be amazing and the girls would get to see their friends.

"Ms. Santana! Ms. Rachel! You here to finally take your babies home?" Benton screamed as he tore through the crowd of kids.

"We are!" Santana laughed as she scooped the little blonde into her arms so that he wouldn't crash into their legs. There was no denying that Benton had had his share of cupcake this morning, blue icing evident around his lips.

"Me get to go home soon too!" Benton proclaimed proudly pointing at his chest.

"Really?" Rachel asked with true and genuine excitement.

"Yeah! Steph's gonna be my Mama!" Benton was smiling from ear to ear, truly happy about what was happening.

"His lawyer was finally able to track down his biological father and get him to sign over his rights." Stephanie spoke as she walked up behind Santana, Rachel and Benton. It had been a long battle during the process of trying to adopt Benton and hers too was finally almost over.

"Congratulations!" Rachel squealed as she pulled Stephanie into a tight hug. Today just kept getting better and better for everyone.

"Thank you. You two should go see your girls, while I take this one to get cleaned up. We have a meeting with his social worker soon." Stephanie waited with open arms as Santana passed Benton over who immediately wrapped his arms around Stephanie's neck. You could see the contentment written all over his face as he snuggled his head into her neck and gave a shy wave over her shoulder as they left the room.

"Let's go see our girls." Santana turned to Rachel with a smile only to be met with emptiness. Turns out Rachel was already ahead of Santana.

* * *

After greeting the girls and then making the rounds seeing everyone, the twins were on their way back to the nursery. Santana carried a hyped up on sugar Sierra, while Rachel walked along side Samara. The girls had squealed with delight when they had seen their mother's through the crowd of people in the dining hall. All of the homes volunteers were there, along with the regular workers, to say goodbye to the girls. It was truly a special moment. Even though Agetha and Chloe claimed that this was all last minute, everyone had went out of their way to see the girls one more time before they left. The older kids stopped to give hugs in the hallways and some of the volunteers who had been out of the dining hall did as well.

Once inside the nursery, Rachel and Santana couldn't help but to look around the room. This was going to be the last time they would ever be in this room with the girls in this way. Every time from here on out, they would just be visiting. It was very easy to feel overwhelmed, the girls however, were busy trying to see what was going on with Benton. Speaking of...

"What's going on?" Rachel asked in concern as she looked at the the forms of Stephanie cradling a sobbing Benton to her chest.

"Someone." Stephanie glanced down at Benton. "Is being hit with the reality of what is going on today. So he's a little upset."

"Dey my best fwiends." Benton hiccuped, continuing to cry.

"I know they are buddy, but they can't stay here forever, just like you can't stay here forever either. They get to go home with their Mama's and soon you will get to go home with me." Stephanie was trying her best to get Benton to understand that even if the girls were leaving, they wouldn't just stop being his best friends.

"Yeah, we know they're your best friends too and we would never take them away from you like that." Santana squatted down on the balls of her feet in front of Stephanie and wrapped her arms around the girl's waists. "We promise that we will bring them to visit and then when you go home with Steph, we can do even more fun stuff together. Would that be okay?"

"You pwomise?" Benton asked hesitantly.

"We promise. I will even show you my tree house when you come visit us." Santana's eyes went big with excitement as did Benton's. He had always wanted to see a tree house!

"Ms. Santana has a tree house?! Woah! I guess it's okay for dem to go wit you den. Dey should see the tree house too." Benton nodded his head as if the tree house was the deciding factor in all of this. Stephanie smiled in gratefulness that Santana had helped Benton to not be so upset. At least that was one crisis adverted for the day.

"I guess, you two are here to pick up the girls stuff?" Stephanie asked looking back and forth between the women.

"We are, we would love to spend the entire day here, but we know that you all have stuff you need to do today too." Rachel explained.

"Really. It's going to be a long day." Stephanie sighed. First she had the meeting with Benton and his social worker and then so many of the kids were behind in their schooling because of the move and they were desperately trying to plat catch up whenever they could. "The girls things are already packed." Stephanie stood and walked over to what used to be Sierra's bed. On it sat a little suitcase and the girls backpack. Rachel walked over and picked up the items as Santana instructed the girls to give Benton and Stephanie hugs with promises again to Benton that they would visit soon and that they would make sure that the girls didn't forget him.

With that they left the nursery and headed towards the office lobby. It was finally over. Their little family was complete and a new chapter in their lives was about to begin. When the women made it to the lobby they were greeted with cheers and applause as Mercedes and Alison signed off on the papers that officially released the girls from the home into the custody of Santana and Rachel. The little family smiled as cameras began to flash all around. Santana acquainted it to being swarmed by the paparazzi and really, it was very similar, but she would do this a thousand times over for her girls.

"Let's go home, love." Rachel smiled before puckering her lips at Santana, asking for a kiss. Santana immediately obliged and grabbed the suitcase off the floor before adjusting the girls backpack onto Samara's back. The little girl done a little happy dance that she was the one carrying the back pack, while Sierra just wanted to be in her Mami's arms. All of these people at once where scaring her.

"Home it is." Santana nodded her head before giving an over the shoulder wave to everyone standing in the lobby. It was definitely time to go home.


	93. Officially Berry-Lopezes

"What do you think San? Should we just wait and do something this weekend after Thanksgiving? I mean we have nothing prepared for an actual welcome home party." Rachel looked over at Santana who was in the process of washing Samara's hair. It was early evening after picking the girls up from the home and they had spent all day relaxing and getting the girls settled into the cabin again. As soon as they had arrived at the cabin, Santana immediately let the girls help her unpack their suit case and back pack. The women wanted the girls to see that they wouldn't be leaving any time soon. After that they had played with all of their toys, had dinner and now they were in the process of taking baths.

"I think that would work out better. Between the hearing in the morning, the studio dinner, dinner with the entire family at your dads and Bayani's...its just a lot going on this week." Santana grinned as Samara splashed around in her tub. Sierra wasn't as interested in playing around as Samara was. The tiny girl sat in her tub in front of Rachel with her little legs literally propped up on the side enjoying being bathed by her Mama.

"Lady bugs...you have no idea how crazy the holiday's are about to become." Rachel gave a half hearted sigh. She loved the holiday's but boy did her dad like to go overboard, hence the reason he had offered to host this year. He already had one of the biggest turkey's that he could find at Shuebury's and a twenty something pound ham. It really was overkill, but to be fair he was feeding ten people including himself. If Rachel and Santana didn't stop him, he would try and host Christmas too. Of course they would be taking the girls up there Christmas morning, but it wasn't fair if he hosted Christmas dinner for everyone also.

Thanksgiving was going to be crazy considering that they had made the decision to not tell anyone that they had went and picked up the girls this morning. It was going to be hard to keep it all a surprise for three days especially when Santana and Rachel just wanted to shout from the rooftops that their babies were finally home. Rachel knew she had to figure out a way to let her dad know without telling him exactly that the twins would be there as well. It wouldn't really matter in the long run anyway, Leroy was fixing plenty of food and he already bought so much stuff to keep at his cabin for when the girls came to visit. He and Bayani were taking being grandparents very seriously. It truly meant the world to Rachel, especially when thinking back to when their father daughter relationship was nonexistent.

"That's one of the best parts about the holidays. Everyone is filled with this magical spirit that just makes you want to be better and do good things. I can't wait to take you two to meet Santa Claus!" Santana erupted into giggles when Samara squealed at the mention of Santa Claus. She didn't know if the girls actually knew who he was or if Samara was just feeding off of Santana's higher pitched, excited talking. It didn't matter either way really, Santana just hoped their first Christmas pictures as Berry-Lopez's wasn't full on crying pictures.

"Oh my gosh, San. We haven't ordered Christmas outfits yet or Christmas pajamas!" Rachel was starting to freak out a little bit, these things were big deals.

"Rachel, honey. We have plenty of time, don't worry. Besides, you know the grandparents are each going to have at least an outfit and pajama set a piece. They'll be wearing Christmas pajamas long after Christmas comes and goes." Santana chuckled as she lifted a now starting to doze off Samara out of her tub.

Rachel soon followed suit with Sierra. Both women decided that once again they would sleep on the couch for the first couple of nights, just in case the girls needed them. It would take a while for everyone to get used to the twins being in the house permanently. Rachel and Santana were going to have to learn that it was fine to sleep upstairs in the loft, they would be able to hear if the girls needed them.

Easily settling back into their nightly routine, Rachel and Santana rocked the girls while reading the story Goodnight Moon. You could tell it had been a long day as both twins were asleep in record time. Santana smiled as they laid the girls down in their beds. They were finally home to stay and the hearing in the morning would make that even more permanent.

* * *

"All rise for Judge April Rhodes." The bailiff called out into the small court room. Santana and Rachel looked at each other stunned. They had no idea that Judge Rhodes would the one over the girls adoption hearing. However, in hindsight they should have known since she is a family lawyer. The woman smiled brightly as she approached her bench.

"Good morning everyone. Let's get this show on the road shall we?" Judge Rhodes laughed at her own joke before sitting down. "Now, we are here today in the interest of Sierra and Samara Cantrell, is that correct?"

"Yes, your honor." Mercedes stood from her position at the table in front of Judge Rhodes. Santana and Rachel didn't have to sit up there, thankfully they only had to sit in the first row of pews behind Mercedes.

"Great, first things first. The motion to dissolve all parental rights has been filed, correct?" Judge Rhodes wanted to make sure that there was no chance of this woman ever trying to take the twins away from Santana and Rachel.

"Yes, your honor. It was filed and signed on September twenty-seventh. Soon after, October the third, Sierra and Samara Cantrell's adoption case was officially closed as an open adoption with hopes of reconciliation removed." Mercedes rifled through her paperwork as she answer Judge Rhodes questions.

"Before we proceed, is there anything the adopting parents would like to say today?" Judge Rhodes looked to Rachel and Santana.

"We would actually. We wrote letters that we would like to read to the girls, if that's okay?" Rachel asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Judge Rhodes nodded her head.

Nervously, Rachel stepped forward while the twins remained seated with Santana. "Okay..um. Dear Sierra and Samara, when I first met you, I was so afraid to fall in love with you. We didn't know your situation at the time and I was scared that if your Mami and I fell in love with you, we would be devastated if we couldn't take you home with us. At first we wanted to be foster parents, but the heart break of having children come into our home and leave soon after was something that we knew we couldn't handle. I commend everyone who is able to do it. After many of nights spent late talking, your Mami and I decided that we would rather like to adopt and instantly we thought of you. Once I opened myself up, the connection we had was instant and I knew that one day you were going to be ours and today is that day. As your Mama, I faithfully promise to be the best person I can be for you. I promise to always be that shoulder you need to cry on, the arms that will hold you close when you need a hug, and the feet that will carry you when you feel like the world is coming down on your shoulders and you can't carry yourself. I'm honored to be one of the women to love and cherish the precious people that you will grow up to be and I look forward to all of the future endeavors we will encounter as a family. I love you more than words can say and I thank you for choosing me to be your Mama." Rachel turned and looked at Judge Rhodes who nodded her head with tears in her eyes.

"I have something I would like to read also." Santana stood and traded places with Rachel. The twins stood on the pew looking around and smiling. They were so cute dressed in their little sweater dresses and leggings that Rachel had finally gotten them into. It had been too warm for them to wear them before, but now it was the perfect weather. Santana cleared her throat before she started reading. "The first time I met you both, you were hiding under your beds at the St. Lawrence Children's Home. I laid down in the floor and just hung out with you for a while. I honestly wasn't expecting much, to you I was a stranger encroaching on your space, but eventually you came out of hiding and snuggled up to me. I was instantly taken with you. At that point in time, I wasn't sure I was ready to be a mother or ever become one. I had so many fears of not being good enough. By the time you're old enough to read this letter, I hope I have proven myself wrong. I know we're all going to make mistakes, you two especially because you haven't lived yet, but when you do, I promise to help you work through them and help you make amends. As your Mama has already said in her letter, she's writing one too while you two are asleep in your nursery, I promise to be one of the people you can turn to for whatever you need. I look forward to what the future holds for you and us as a family. I promise to love you until my last dying breath and I too thank you for choosing me to be your Mami." Santana wiped her eyes before walking back over to Rachel and kissing her quickly on the lips before kissing each girl on their forehead. Sierra screeched, causing the entire room to chuckle before wrapping her arms around her Mami's neck and giving her repeated kisses on her cheek. Mami looked like she needed kisses because she was crying and that was a big no no. Mami wasn't supposed to be crying!

"That was beautiful ladies. With that I think it's safe to say that these girls are in the best hands that they could ever possibly be in for the rest of their lives. I think we should sign the birth certificate now and the official adoption papers. Bailiff, if you would collect said items for me." Judge Rhodes motioned to the papers that Mercedes held in her out stretched hand. Mercedes and Alison had already signed their parts of the documents, now all that was left was for Rachel, Santana and Judge Rhodes to sign.

Everyone watched as Judge Rhodes flipped through the papers, signing them quickly and swiftly. Looking up momentarily, she asked for Rachel and Santana to step forward. "You two ladies need to sign on every marked x that you see, if you miss just one, this whole process could be delayed."

Rachel and Santana nodded quickly, before they began to sign. "What exactly happens after this?" Santana asked as she sat down at the table next to Mercedes and Alison.

"After you sign the papers, they will be filed with Mercedes at her office and the birth certificate will be sent off. You should receive the girls official documents within a few weeks. You will need to go file for new social security cards and contact anyone about their new last name, presumably that would be only their doctor at this time." Judge Rhodes answered. A few moments later she was handed back the papers, all signed. Rachel and Santana had checked twice each to make sure they hadn't missed any. "Ladies, I believe it is official that I can officially release Sierra and Samara Berry-Lopez into your custody. Congratulations!" Judge Rhodes banged her gavel while everyone in the court room began to clap. It was officially official. The girls were theirs to keep...forever.


	94. Extended Family

"Ohhh, Sierra. Where are you lady bug?" Santana called casually as she came down the stairs and into the kitchen. She smiled to herself when she heard the little girl giggle from the other side of the island. It was nap time in the Berry-Lopez household and Santana had ran upstairs to get Sierra's giraffe that she had left in the loft that morning after some morning snuggles upstairs with her Mama, Mami and sister. Samara had passed out on Rachel in the living room just a few minutes ago, but Sierra wasn't having any of it. She wasn't sleepy at all, or so she claimed by chanting _no sweep_. "Hmm, I know I heard her, but I just can't seem to find her." Santana was walking slowly, Mr. Giraffe swinging from her hand. "I guess, I will just have to go take a nap with Mr. Giraffe here." Santana snuggled the stuffed animal to her chest and let out a fake yawn.

At the thought of someone else napping with Mr. Giraffe, Sierra hopped out from behind the island with her little hand out telling Santana to stop. "No Mami. Me 'raffe!" Her little eyebrows were furrowed with toddler fury.

"You better come get him then little miss sassy pants. We have Mama's work dinner in a little while and there are going to be people there fussing over you and your sister. You need some sleep before then." Santana said as she picked the little girl up in her arms and carried her into the living room.

"Din din?" Sierra asked with a confused frown on her face.

"Yes, Mama's work dinner. Uncle Puck, Aunt Quinn and your cousins Beth and Davis will be there. Beth is going to go crazy over you two." Santana settled onto the couch next to Rachel who was curled up underneath a blanket, reading a book with Samara resting on her chest.

"Do you think our family is going to be upset that everyone at the studio will know before they do?" Rachel bit her lip in thought.

"It's supposed to be a surprise and your work dinner is first." Santana shrugged her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure they all probably know anyway. When Mami called earlier she heard Samara crying over the baby doll that Sierra was playing with."

Rachel began silently laughing trying not to disturb Sierra who was still trying to go to sleep. The little girl was sat across Santana's lap leaning into the Latina's left arm with Mr. Giraffe snuggled into her chest. "Our first time witnessing what I am sure is one of many sibling fights bound to happen."

"Oh you know it." Santana laughed lightly while nodding. Sierra blinked her eyes open and glared at her Mami. She couldn't sleep if Mami was moving so much.

Rachel nodded her head towards Sierra. "Sorry lady bug." Santana apologized and kissed the little girl on the head, this seemed to satisfy Sierra as she began to once again drift off into dream land.

* * *

Santana was a little nervous as she and Rachel pulled into the studio parking lot with the twins. This would be the first time that everyone Rachel worked with would be officially meeting the girls. Their first real introduction as the complete little family of Berry-Lopezes. It was exciting yet a little overwhelming all at the same time. There was no going back now though, they had made it to the studio and that was honestly a challenge within itself.

After their naps the twins were wide awake and ready to go. It had taken much longer than anticipated for the little family of four to get dressed and out of the door on time. This was something Rachel and Santana were going to have to work on. It wasn't just them anymore and even though they had done well in the past, they knew that there were going to be days that things just didn't go according to plan and today just had to be one of those days. Rachel's black sweater that she had wanted to wear somehow had a hole in it and began to unravel, while Sierra had to have different boots put on since one of the new ones she was supposed to wear was already missing, despite having just been taken out of the box. What in the hell that child done with her boot, Santana and Rachel may never know but they were determined to find it once they got home. Samara had a melt down on the way out of the door because she couldn't find her pacifier that was in the diaper bag, where she had put it. It was just an all around mess trying to get out of the door, but alas they were successful and everyone seemed to be in great spirits now that the chaos had settled.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked Santana with concern in her voice. She had been watching the woman go pale ever since they pulled into the studio parking lot.

"A little nervous." Santana squeaked out. She cleared her throat hoping _that_ wouldn't happen again.

"Aww San." Rachel cooed with a smile. "It's okay, you know everyone I work with is like extended family. Before the dinner is over they all will be referring to themselves as aunts and uncles, that's how they are with all the kids whose parents work here."

"I know...I just...I don't know, I'm being crazy. I feel like this night has to be perfect in some way." Santana wrung her hands together.

"It's going to be perfect in the aspect that we're out together with our girls at this lovely dinner that Puck planned." Rachel squeezed Santana's knee through her black dress pants reassuringly before giving her a kiss on the lips. "Can we go eat please? I'm starving."

"Bite bites!" Sierra yelled from her car seat. Santana shook her head as she laughed. Her girls...always the ones to bring the comedy and know just how to difuse a momentary lapse of panic.

* * *

As Rachel and Santana walked hand in hand with one twin on each side of them, Santana felt her nerves lessen ever so slightly. Like Rachel had said these people were basically extended family, they were loving, they were accepting and just all around great people. It didn't matter if somehow tonight didn't go perfectly like Santana hoped, as long as they were together that was all that matter.

"Do you want to go in first and tell Puck that we have a surprise?" Santana asked as they approached the cafeteria doors. Everyone must be already inside because so far the building had been empty, minus the security guards out front.

Rachel nodded her head as she released Samara's hand into Santana's. "Mama will be right back."

* * *

Puck sat at the head of the very large table that the catering company had put together. Looking around, he was sure that almost everyone was here now except for Rachel and a few others. Quinn sat to his right, Davis asleep in her arms, Beth was sitting next to her reading some new book that she and her little friends had became interested in. To his left was the empty seats reserved for Rachel and Santana, where in the hell were they?

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Puck looked up to see Rachel taking quick strides across the cafeteria. Puck furrowed his brows in confusion. Did Santana not come? "Where's San?" Puck asked as soon as Rachel was at his side.

"She's out in the hallway, listen..we have a bit of a surprise and well we don't want everyone to go nuts." Rachel explained, hunched over a bit.

"What kind of surprise? Because you know they like to get loud." Puck chuckled.

"Uhm..let's call it a surprise like meeting Davis and other babies." Rachel immediately knew that Puck and Quinn knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You have them?! They're here with you?!" Quinn looked like she was about to cry.

"We do...permanently. So you can't say anything and neither can anyone else after we leave. We haven't even told our parents yet because we want to surprise them too." Rachel could feel herself starting to get giddy with anticipation. She couldn't wait for everyone to meet the girls.

"I will tell them. Go get San and the girls." Puck hugged Rachel quickly as the woman took off back across the cafeteria to get Santana and the twins. When Rachel stepped back into the hallway she could hear Puck telling everyone that she had a special surprise and to keep the noise at an appropriate level.

Santana was sitting on a bench against the wall with a twin on each side of her while looking in the diaper bag for something. Well, she was trying to look in the diaper bag, but Sierra kept sticking her hand in trying to find whatever she wanted herself. "What are you looking for San?" Rachel asked as she walked closer and picked Samara up.

"Bebe!" Sierra cheered when she pulled out her favorite purple pacifier.

"That's what I was looking for." Santana huffed before sliding the diaper bag off her lap and zipping it back up. Sierra stuffed her pacifier into her mouth before shuffling closer and resting her head on Santana's shoulder as if to apologize for being impatient. Santana couldn't contain her smile at the cuteness. Placing a kiss on Sierra's head, Santana stood up and lifted the little girl into her arms. "Are we ready to go in yet?"

"Yep, we are all set." Rachel said as she took a deep breath and prepared to open the door. This was it, their first official moment.

* * *

All heads turned to face the door when they heard it open. Okay that wasn't intimidating at all, Santana thought in her head. There were at least one hundred faces staring at them, on the plus side they all had huge smiles on their faces. Santana was running through all of the possible things in her head that she could say, but Rachel beat her to it.

"Hi everyone. As you can see and as Puck explained, we have a surprise. I wanted to officially introduce all of you to the newest Berry-Lopezes. This here is Samara." Rachel lifted her arm a little indicating that she was talking about the twin that she was holding before looking over to Santana. "That is Sierra. They officially became ours two days ago, so they are now honorary members of Puckerman - Fabray Productions. I know you all have been waiting on us and a few others, so for right now we are going to take our seats. Don't worry, we will make sure everyone gets to meet the twins properly at some point tonight." The twins hid their faces in their mothers necks, not really wanting to be part of all the attention. Unexpectedly, everyone began to stand and clap quietly as Rachel and Santana made their way down the table towards Puck who was also standing and clapping. As they passed each person, they were offered many congratulations on the adoption. It was an amazing feeling to have everyone be so supportive, which Rachel never doubted that they wouldn't be anyway.

Once the women reached their seats, they sat their stuff down under the table and placed the twins in their laps. They didn't know that Puck had asked for two more chairs until someone from the catering company brought two wooden high chairs over. Rachel was a little shocked, what kind of company had things like that just hanging around? Once they were settled Puck stood up and tapped on his glass signaling that they were ready to begin.

"I know we're all ready to eat so I promise to make this quick. First off, how about another warm welcome for our two newest little family members?" Puck waited until the clapping died down before speaking again. "Thank you all for making it today. I know many of you have flights to catch after this so you can head home to your real families for tomorrow." Everyone chuckled at the ones who nodded their heads. "We have had a great year, the studio is honestly doing better than it ever has been. I am thankful for all of the hard work that you all put in each and every day and I truly appreciate it. With that said, we still have two full weeks of work before Christmas break so no slacking. But, I have a surprise myself for everyone. In appreciation for all of the hard work that you all do, how about we hand out Christmas bonuses early?" Rachel and Santana covered the girls ears as the table erupted into cheers, Quinn cradled Davis' head to her chest doing to the same. "I knew that would get you going. Make sure you see me before you leave. Before I sit down, in all seriousness, this business wouldn't be what it is without you all. I could stand up here and thank you each individually for what you do, but that would take forever and you all don't want me to talk that long. Let's end this holiday season on a good note and I look forward to working with you all again next year. For now, let's eat!"


	95. Parenting

As the dinner progressed the girls began to get a little restless sitting in their seats. Seeing as they were in a closed off room, Santana and Rachel deemed it okay to let the girls walk around the table. The twins, still feeling out their new environment decided to stick close to their mothers, always making sure that both women were in their sights at all times. As expected, Beth was immediately smitten with the girls and tried to encourage them to go play with some of the other kids, but they preferred the company of their mothers. Sierra seemed to be fascinated in general by everything going on around her while Samara was more interested in where her next bite of food was going to come from. Was Mami going to hand her something or Mama? She didn't know, she just knew that she loved the bread that Mami had given her off of her plate.

Santana could feel Puck watching her every move and every time she caught him staring, he would just grin. It was as if he was telling her that she was doing a good job and that he loved seeing her like this. Santana was broken from her inner musings by Sierra patting her on the leg.

"Mami." Sierra giggled.

"What's wrong baby?" Santana asked as she turned to look down at the little girl who was patting the front of her diaper. This was something new that the twins had started doing when they needed a diaper change. "Did you go potty?" Instead of answering, Sierra began to do a little dance to show just how uncomfortable she was. "Rachel, we're going for a diaper change." Santana told her wife who nodded indicating that she had heard her before leaving.

"Mama, bite?" Samara asked while walking up to Rachel. Beth decided to take a breather and sat back down beside of Quinn, tickling Davis' feet that was sticking out from under the blanket that Quinn had him covered up with. The tiny baby boy gave his big sister a huge gummy smile.

"What do you want a bite of lady bug?" Rachel picked the tiny girl up and sat her on her lap letting her look over Rachel's plate deciding what she wanted. Samara made a grab for a piece of asparagus that was big enough for her to hold in her hand and nibble on. Rachel was surprised that Samara seemed to like it, she knew herself that when she was little she had hated it.

"Is that good cutie?" Quinn asked Samara who leaned into her mothers front, grinning at Quinn.

"Nom." Samara murmured before sticking her hand in Rachel's face offering her a bite.

"So it is good? Mama doesn't want a bite baby, you eat it." Samara only looked mildly offended that Rachel didn't take a bite. Oh well, more for her if Mama didn't want any.

A few moments later, Santana returned with a freshly diapered Sierra who seemed to be on the verge of dozing off. Rachel smiled at the sight of her wife carrying their daughter. It was one of those moments where the world just seemed to fade away as Rachel realized how truly in love she was with her wife. She hoped those moments never stopped in the future.

* * *

After spending the afternoon with everyone at the studio, Santana and Rachel decided to head home so that they could rest up for the next day. They just knew that all the grandparents were going to make the biggest fuss over the girls all day just like everyone at the studio had. Rachel held true to her promise that everyone would get to properly meet the girls before they left. Sierra and Samara were knocked out in their car seats from all of the excitement. It would take time for the girls to really warm up to everyone, but most of them got a small smile or laugh so that was enough to hold them over for a while.

"Today went way better than I could have ever hoped for." Santana said as she guided her jeep along the road heading towards the cabin.

"It really did. Everyone is so smitten with the girls." Rachel smiled while turning her head to look at Santana. She reached over and ran her fingers down Santana's cheek. "You know, I'm smitten with you."

Santana snorted. "Where did that come from?"

Rachel shrugged her shoulders, still wearing a dreamy smile. "I just realized how much I love you today and every day of our lives."

"I love you too." Santana took Rachel's hand into her own and kissed the woman's knuckles before lacing their fingers together and laying them on her lap. In that moment nothing more needed to be said. Today had went amazing, Santana had the three loves of her life at her side and tomorrow they would be spending the entire day with their family. In this moment nothing could shake her happiness.

* * *

As the evening turned into night, Santana was in the kitchen prepping an apple pie while Rachel put the finishing touches on a bowl of pasta salad. Even though Leroy had insisted that they didn't need to bring anything, Rachel and Santana both felt it would be nice to bring _something_. The twins were sound asleep in their nursery, still wore out from the day at the studio. Bath time had been super quiet, the girls barely waking up during the process. They hadn't even been awake long enough to have their nightly cups of milk or read a story. Both women knew that without a doubt both twins would be wide awake at the crack of dawn.

"We need to head to bed soon." Rachel mumbled as she placed the bowl of pasta salad in the fridge. "I will dress that in the morning, it will get soggy if I do it tonight." She cringed as she shut the door.

"Yeah, I'm not going to bake this tonight, just toss it in the oven at Leroy's." Santana motioned to the pie sitting on the counter. It looked almost too pretty to eat.

"Let's head to bed. We have a long day ahead of us." Rachel circled Santana's waist with her arms, hugging her from behind.

"It's going to be a great day though, especially when our parents see the girls." Santana smiled thinking about what their reactions were going to be.

"I can't wait." Rachel bounced a little on her toes making Santana giggle. Turning around, Santana placed a lingering kiss on Rachel's forehead before moving to her lips. Rachel broke the kiss and quickly grabbed Santana's pie to place in the fridge before grabbing her wife's hand and practically dragging her into Santana's studio. It wasn't the most convenient place to make love with her wife, but Santana did have a futon bed in there that was actually really comfy. For now, it would suffice.

* * *

Santana and Rachel both jumped awake at the sounds of loud screeching and wailing. One of those noises was in fact Santana's alarm while the other was her lovely baby girls. Scrambling around, she was trying to find her clothes while trying not to knock Rachel, who was also trying to find her clothes, off the futon and into the floor. Rachel erupted with fits of laughter watching Santana hop on one leg out the door. It would have been quicker if she had just stopped to pull up her pajama pants and then left, but at the moment she just couldn't see the reasoning. Shaking her head, Rachel too finally found some proper clothes and made her way out of the studio, through the kitchen and into the nursery. Sierra was sitting up in her bed playing with her giraffe while Samara continued to cry. Something seemed fishy...Sierra was just acting too innocent while Samara bawled her eyes out. This wasn't typical behavior, normally when one twin was full on crying, the other one was too. They just fed off each like that. Sierra looked up at her Mama with a big grin before standing up and bouncing on her bed.

"No, no lady bug. We don't jump on the beds." Rachel rushed to the tiny girls bed and picked her up, placing her on her hip. Walking over to Samara and Santana, Rachel reached out and ran her hand up and down Samara's back. The little girl had stemmed off some of her crying but her little face was still riddled with snot and tears. She was resting her head on Santana's shoulder, both of her hands tucked in front of her chest against Santana.

Neither woman had any idea what could have upset Samara so much until she untucked one hand to shove her tiny fist into her mouth. That was when they seen the tiny set of teeth marks on Samara's arm. Rachel's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. What in the hell?!

"Santana, look at her arm." Rachel nearly screeched.

Confused Santana gently pulled Samara's fist from her mouth to examine her arm. She hadn't seen it before, but now she could clearly see a perfect set of little teeth marks. "Sierra." Santana spoke firmly but gently. "Did you do this?"

"No?" Sierra answered while holding her hand out in an _I don't know_ manner.

Rachel and Santana tried so hard not to laugh at Sierra's expression. It was just so cute, but they knew they had to handle this. Sierra didn't need to be biting people, especially her sister. "I think you did. There's no other people in this room and that's definitely not a dog bite."

"Doggy?" Sierra asked confused while looking at her Mama and Mami.

"The doggies didn't do that. We don't bite lady bug. That's a no no." Santana made sure to look directly into Sierra's eyes so that the little girl understood the message loud and clear. Biting was a no no.

"No no." Sierra shook her head. At least she partly? understood. Santana and Rachel at least hoped that was what she was saying.

"Right, no no. No biting." Rachel reiterated what Santana had said.

"No bites?!" Sierra yelled, horrified at the thought of not receiving food.

"Yes bites. But no _bite-ting_. You made not understand it now, but there is a difference. Mama and Mami would never take bites away from you." Sierra's shoulders seemed to deflate with relief. Santana and Rachel both shared a wary look with one another. They knew this wasn't the end of this, biting was a habit that a lot of children struggled to break. Maybe..just maybe they would get lucky and Sierra wouldn't do it again or she would do it again and Samara would bite her back. That however could either go two ways, one they have a set of twins who like to bite each other or they realize how bad it actually hurts and don't do it anymore. They would have to wait and see because they couldn't punish the girls for something that hadn't happened yet and may not even happen. There was also no way for them to know if Samara had done something to Sierra first to cause the biting. For now, they would just have to keep an extra eye on both girls to determine if this was random or if the girls were just picking at each other and it escalated into this.

Santana sighed as she examined Samara's arm. The bite didn't break the skin and there didn't appear to be any kind of bruise setting in, but she didn't blame Samara for crying like she did. Being bit hurt, especially if you were a seventeen month old who only had complete control of their feelings at random intervals. They were learning and testing limits with each other and their mother's, it was a part of growing up.

"Okay, so remember no no to biting and yes to bites." Rachel made sure that both girls heard her, just in case Samara had actually done something.

Santana chuckled while grabbing a baby wipe to clean off Samara's face. It was hilarious to her how you had to speak to children to get your point across. Did everyone partially turn into cavemen when they became parents?

"What are you laughing at?" Rachel giggled as she sat Sierra back down on her bed to change her diaper and put clothes on her.

"Us. No no biting, yes bites." Santana said in her best cave man voice making Rachel and the twins laugh. At least there was no more crying and the girls seemed to understand for the most part. Parenting was hard and this had only been a minor hiccup for now, but Santana thought they were doing okay so far.


	96. Thanksgiving Day

After the biting incident things seemed to calm down in the Berry-Lopez household. The girls who had had their breakfast and was now dressed, were playing nicely together in their room. Santana had taken her shower first and was now sitting in one of the gliders just watching the twins. It was so cute to see them interact with each other. They had started off working together dressing one of their baby dolls and now they were playing with a puzzle. Every time Sierra would hand Samara a piece, the little girl would examine it and either try to put it in the puzzle or shake her head and hand it back. It was like she was telling Sierra that that wasn't the right one. Santana found herself silently laughing at the concentrated look on Samara's face on more than one occasion. The way she scrunched up her eye brows and narrowed her eyes at the puzzle piece was too cute to handle.

"Are we ready to go?" Rachel asked while poking her head into the nursery.

"I think so." Santana replied as she stood up. She had already let the dogs out to use the bathroom, they had plenty of water and food and their potty patch was set up in the bathroom if they needed to go before Santana and Rachel returned home. Really that thing had been a life saver on more than one occasion when something had came up and Santana or Rachel wasn't able to make it home on time. Whenever that happened, Santana always made sure the dogs got extra snuggles and play time, especially now with the twins here. She never wanted her fur babies to feel like they were being neglected or over looked.

"Let's go lady bugs." Rachel walked over to the girls picking Samara up and handing her to Santana before picking Sierra up herself. "I hope you guys are prepared because there is no telling what your grand parents have in store for you once they find out you're home for good."

"I can only imagine." Santana mumbled as the family exited the cabin and made their way towards the jeep. Santana was thankful that the first snow fall hadn't been a big one and melted in a timely fashion. There was so much that she needed to get done around the cabin that she just hadn't had time to do yet. Hopefully this weekend after the holiday she would find the time, for now Thanksgiving and spending time with her family was top priority.

* * *

The trip out to Leroy and Bayani's cabin was a loud but short one. The entire time the girls babbled and talked up a storm to their mother's who answered them like they were having a real conversation. Santana smiled as Sierra yelled something about "buh flies" and "wed." There was no telling what the child was actually talking about. It was amazing just how many new words the girls had learned in the time that Rachel and Santana had known them.

Rachel couldn't help the excited giggles that began to bubble over as she and Santana made their way up the side of the mountain towards her fathers cabin. All of the parents were clueless to what was about to happen, or so she thought. There was still the possibility that Santana's mother knew, however Rachel felt like if she did know, she hadn't said anything to anyone. Through the numerous conversations between Leroy and Shelby, neither of them let on like they knew anything. Time would only tell.

"I swear, I fall in love with your father's cabin every time we come up here." Santana couldn't help but to be in awe. Did she love Leroy's cabin more than her own? Of course not, nothing would ever replace the amazing home that her Abuelo had built and that she kept modern, but she just loved cabins and Leroy had picked a good one.

"It's so pretty." Rachel agreed as Santana parked the jeep out front. The cabin itself wasn't as big as Santana's and Rachel's, but it was still three bedroom, two bath, large dining room and kitchen, spacious living room with high vaulted ceilings and a study that was to die for. Santana knew that if she had been a writer like Leroy instead of a painter she would have the same office. As the women climbed out of the jeep they took note that they were the last ones to arrive, just like they had planned.

"Do you want to get the stuff now or wait and just take the girls in so none of the parents come out early and see them?" Santana asked as she unbuckled Sierra from her car seat.

"Uhm, let's just go straight in and come back out for the stuff. The longer we are outside the more chance there is of them coming out." Rachel replied before she stepped back to the back passenger door to get Samara out of her seat. The twins were looking around with big eyes, they were at a new place and it was all just so exciting for them.

"Tur tur?" Sierra asked Santana as she lifted the tiny girl onto her hip.

"Yeah baby, we are going to have lots of tur tur." Santana chuckled. They had mentioned turkey once in the car on the way here and Sierra had already picked up on the word. It was true what they say about children being sponges, they literally soaked up everything. Sierra clapped her hands excitedly. She didn't know what tur tur was exactly but it sounded yummy!

As the women made the short walk from the jeep to the front door, Rachel saw the curtain move out of the corner of her eye as soon as she stepped onto the porch. "Your mom was just in the window." Rachel stopped and turned to look at Santana who was already trying not to laugh.

"I told you she knew." Santana adjusted Sierra on her hip. "Let's go in before they all bombard us." Before Rachel could even reach her hand out to turn the door knob, the door was jerked open by Leroy who was already on the verge of crying. Immediately all of the parents were behind him trying to see out of the door.

"You have them?!"

"How long are they staying with you? Just the holiday's?"

"Oh my gosh, they've gotten so much bigger than the last time we seen them."

"Leroy, honey, move let them in the house."

"I love that they have their mothers eyes."

"Mami, really?"

"Okay! Enough! We will explain everything in a moment." Rachel interjected. All the questions were making her head spin.

"I have one more question?" Marcus raised his finger tentatively.

Santana groaned. She knew to expect this and had even mentally prepared for it, but holy crap she wished they would back off for a moment. "Yes, Papi?"

"Did you bring the apple pie?" Marcus asked sheepishly.

"Of course we did. Rachel made her pasta salad too. It's in the back." Santana dug into her pocket and handed her father the keys before rolling her eyes and finally following Rachel into the house. Now that the parents had decided to actually move out of the way, they could sit down and begin to explain everything.

Once Rachel and Santana had settled in the kitchen they began to answer any and all questions that had been or were going to be thrown at them. Everyone was ecstatic to find out that they finally had the girls permanently and to no one's surprise the entire room burst into tears. Sierra and Samara watched with mildly concerned faces, they had no idea why everyone was acting this way.

"Can we ask what names you all would like to be called? You know since the twins are officially your grand children now." Santana trailed off as she looked at everyone's grins. She should have known that they had probably picked out names ages ago and was just waiting on the perfect moment to use them.

"Well, I stayed traditional and chose Pap." Leroy stated proudly before looking over to Bayani.

"I also stayed traditional but in my language, so I chose Lolo." Rachel smiled at the men, those were good names.

"I like them both very much. Girls, that's Pap and that's Lolo." Rachel pointed to Leroy and Bayani who beamed when the girls smiled at them. "Mom? Cass? What did you two pick?"

"I went with Nana or Nan, whichever one the girls prefer." Shelby shrugged her shoulders, it didn't matter in all honesty what the girls decided to call her. She was just happy that Rachel was back in her life and now she had two beautiful grand daughters.

"When I was little I used to call my Grandmother, Minny. I would like to stick with that also, if that's okay?" Cassie knew that she was a part of the family, but for some reason she felt like she needed reassurance.

"Cass...we asked you to pick out a name. If that's what you want to be called then that's what you shall be called, or well at least a variation of it until the girls can say it properly." Santana laughed, making Sierra and Samara laugh as well. Who knew what Mami was laughing at? They just wanted to join in. Once again Rachel properly introduced the girls to the new names for their grandparents before moving onto Santana's parents.

"Mami? Papi? Did you two stay super traditional and go with Abuelo and Abuela?" Santana knew her parents could be very formal, hence the reason she always called her Abuelo, Abuelo. She just wasn't sure if they would remain that way with the girls.

"No honey. We actually wanted to be called Lita and Lito." Maribel replied as she walked towards Santana with outstretched hands. The younger Latina woman had no idea what was happening until she looked down and saw Sierra's outstretched hands for her Lita.

"Wita!" Sierra yelled as she made grabbing motions because Maribel wasn't moving fast enough.

The older woman chuckled as she finally took the baby into her arms. "Yes, I am your Lita and that is your Lito." Santana watched in awe as Samara decided that she wanted to be smothered in love and kisses too and climbed down out of Rachel's lap and made her way over to Leroy and Bayani. Both girls squealed with delight as all six of their grandparents descended on them at once. This was already turning into the best Thanksgiving ever and they hadn't even eaten yet.

* * *

After all of the grandparents successfully created two little loved up monsters, the entire family sat down to eat. The dining room table was filled with all sorts of food from the traditional turkey, ham, mashed potatoes and stuffing to several traditional Spanish side dishes, courtesy of Maribel. Santana had no idea where her mother may have cooked some of this stuff other than here at Leroy's. She was still suspicious about a hidden move, but today wasn't the day to ask. Today was their first Thanksgiving together as a whole family and it was going to remain a great day.

As expected, Leroy and Bayani did in fact have two high chairs hidden away just for the girls. That was only the tip of the ice burg when it came to gifts. Maribel and Marcus both had mentioned that they had a few while Shelby and Cassie tried to deny theirs hidden in their car. Santana honestly had no idea what to get the girls for Christmas since they were receiving all of this stuff now. It was honestly stressing her out just a little bit.

Rachel who had been eating noticed that Santana was really thinking hard about something as the parents kept talking about presents. She reached over and rubbed Santana's thigh to get her attention. _What's wrong?_ Rachel asked with her eyes and general facial expression. Santana shook her head indicating that is was nothing to worry about now. Rachel gave her signature pout and was quickly kissed to make it disappear. The table erupted into ooes and awes at the two women. Both shared a smile and shook their heads. This was their family, the teasing, the warmness and the all around greatest feeling of love imaginable. Despite the early stress of Christmas, the possibility of Santana's parents moving to McKinley and the girls already on the verge of being strung out on sugar...Today was a good day.

* * *

**I knew there would come a point when I had to write this Author's Note and it's bittersweet to finally be at that point. This story is set to wrap up at around Chapter 100. To say that was the goal from the start would not be truthful. I never intended for this story to become as long as it is or is going to be. There will be a small time jump (2 weeks at the most) to put us closer to Christmas and the wedding, but I promise that everything will be tied up neatly into a little bow. I also want to say that fear not, this isn't the last you have seen of the Berry-Lopez Family, I do have one shots planned but those won't be out for a while. After staying on such a strict schedule with this story I need a break from writing for a while, plus a coworker just gave her 2 week notice so that means my work load is about to increase tenfold until someone new is hired. I have no idea when that will be since we are in the middle of a hiring freeze right now. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with me throughout this story and I hope you stay until the end (I know some people stop reading a story once the ending is announced.) If you're one of those readers, that's okay. It's been nice having you around and happy reading to you. **


	97. Decorating and Shopping

As soon as Thanksgiving was over, it felt like Christmas preparations kicked into high gear. Santana spent any free time she had when she wasn't working or spending time with her family making sure that the cabin was completely winter proof and that when the big snows hit they would be perfectly fine. In Rachel's eyes she was wearing herself out, but she was so close to being finished. Santana had cut up a good starter supply of wood for the fireplace. The snowmobile was in perfect condition, the new family sized ATV was outfitted to hold both of the twins car seats and the root cellar was almost completely stocked. They just needed to add a few odds and ends and they would be set to go.

Rachel had spent as much time as possible at the studio getting some much needed work in. Even with the projected release date of the summer for her album, she wanted it to be mostly done before the end of the year. Sam had called her a slave driver one day and kicked Rachel out of the studio just so she would take a break and not blow her voice. Santana and the twins really appreciated hearing Rachel whine for two days. But in the end, everything had worked out and now that Rachel was officially on her holiday break she was enjoying being home with the twins. Since the adoption came right before the holiday break, Rachel had opted out of taking a leave of absence even after Puck had talked to his lawyers and worked out a pretty nice deal. Even with Rachel working so hard during the day, she still had her evenings with her family and that was more than enough to hold her over until the official break started.

With the holidays in full swing, Santana and Rachel were both surprised to find the twins newly revised birth certificates in the mail so soon after the adoption. Judge Rhodes really got her people to work fast. Instead of framing the birth certificates like Santana had originally wanted to do, they decided to frame the official adoption certificate along with the letters they had written instead. Both women figured the girls would appreciate it when they were older and the time came for the big explanation. They never wanted to hide the adoption from their girls, but they wanted them to know the whole story when the time was right. Only the twins could make that decision, maybe they would never want to know. That would be their choice and no one else's.

* * *

At the moment, the twins were playing around the living room while Rachel and Santana decorated the Christmas tree. It was a truly funny site to see with Rachel struggling to get the ornaments sorted and Santana nearly tying herself up with Christmas lights. The girls were running back and forth with Dax and Dahlia on their heels. The cabin was literal chaos and they were all enjoying every minute of it.

"Rachel..help please?" Santana pouted while holding out her arms that were wrapped in Christmas lights. Rachel chuckled as she stood and walked the short distance to were the tree sat in front of the large floor to ceiling windows.

"Santana, honey, how in the world did you manage to get these like this?! I swear they are worse than when you pulled them out of the box." Rachel exclaimed as she desperately tried to untie her wife.

"I don't know. What time is your Dad getting here to take the girls shopping? I'm worried one of them is going to trip on these damn things." Santana shook her shoulders trying to free herself as Rachel pulled and tugged on the brightly colored strands.

"He should be here in about twenty minutes, so we should probably start getting their shoes on?" Rachel watched the girls clamber back through the living room, this time with Dax and Dahlia chasing them.

"Yeah, as soon as I am free." Santana shuffled her feet around, successfully kicking the strands of lights out of the way and under the tree for the moment. "Leroy swore to uphold the no presents rule right?"

Rachel laughed as she came out of the nursery with two little pairs of socks and boots for the twins. "He claims he is going to uphold it, but we will see when they get back." Santana and Rachel had implemented an essentials only rule for whenever the girls were visiting with any of their grand parents. The girls book shelves, dressers and playroom all was on the verge of overflowing already and they had only been home for around three weeks. At least Santana had already ordered three more shelves, so the books was okay and they planned to donate all the clothes that the girls were already growing out of. The only issue was what to do with all the toys, some of which were still in their boxes because the girls just hadn't opened them to play with yet. Santana and Rachel both knew that will all six grandparents about to be living in the same area part of the time, this was always going to be an issue.

Santana's parents were in fact selling their house. They had announced this at the Thanksgiving dinner, however, they planned to stay in the city part of the time and in McKinley the rest. Leroy had gotten them in touch with his realtor who had already acquired a beautiful piece of land and shown them several cabin packages. They hadn't picked one yet, but Santana had seen all of their selections and any that they picked would be a beautiful choice.

When they weren't living in the cabin, they would be staying in their new condominium that they had purchased in the city. Santana had gotten to see it last week when she made a special delivery of paintings to some of her clients in the city. Even though she didn't care for the city life, she had to admit that the condo was pretty amazing. The only downfall was that she nearly choked on her saliva when her father had disclosed how much they paid for the place. Two point five million dollars for a layout of just over seventeen hundred square feet. That was one of the many reasons Santana would never live in the city again, she could buy four more cabins for that amount of money! All of the renovations and cabin upgrades that would be coming next summer was estimated at only a third of that amount. Nevertheless, the condo was already paid for seeing as the house sold relatively quickly and with the promotion of becoming head of his hospital, Santana's father could more than afford it.

On one hand Santana was really happy that her parents were truly making an effort to be closer to her, Rachel and the girls, on the other she still worried. She worried that they would become too overbearing, it was inevitable that she and Rachel were going to have to set boundaries for all of the grandparents. Yes they wanted them to be involved with the girls, but at the end of the night Santana and Rachel were their mothers, the ones who had to discipline them and help keep them on the right track. They couldn't do that if their parents went behind their backs, undermining them. She didn't think they would intentionally, but it was a talk that was going to have to happen at some point. Santana dreaded the day when that time came.

Today wasn't about that though. Leroy was on his way to the cabin to take the girls shopping for Christmas presents for their mothers. Apparently at some point they would be meeting up with Shelby and Cassie once they got out of their music and dance classes this evening. Santana already knew that the girls were going to have a blast, I mean they got to spend the day with their Pap, Lolo, Nana and Minny. Who wouldn't have a blast doing that? Santana would be happy if the girls were able to have a fraction of the relationship that she had with her Abuelo, with their own grandparents.

* * *

Lost in her thoughts, Santana didn't even see or hear Leroy come into the cabin until Sierra was shouting Pap and hanging onto Leroy's leg for dear life. Apparently she was ready to go and Mama was taking too long putting Samara's socks and boots on. Rachel would have already been done if Santana hadn't of gotten lost in her head while trying to finish untangling herself from the Christmas lights.

Leroy chuckled heartily as he lifted the tiny girl into his arms. "Hi my princess. How are you today? Giving Mama and Mami a rough way to go?" Leroy asked before kissing the little girl on her cheek. Sierra just grinned and rubbed her face where Leroy's facial hair stubble had tickled her cheek.

"Go Pap!" Samara screeched as she was finally set free by her Mama and ran over to the man, reaching her arms out wanting to be picked up too.

"They don't want anything to do with us now that _Pap_ is here." Santana fake pouted at the girls who just smiled and snuggled up in Leroy's arms.

"I am a pretty fun dude." Leroy bounced around a little making both girls giggle.

"Oh Dad...please don't call yourself a dude. It's...weird." Rachel cringed and crossed her arms, watching her father with the girls. This was one of those moments where she wondered if she had ever seen this man so happy. He was just overflowing with love for the twins. Every time he looked at them his eyes sparkled with something that only other grandparents could ever truly understand.

"Ah, hush. The girls agree, don't you?! Pap is tons of fun!" Leroy smirked when the twins began to cheer. Rachel could only shake her head and roll her eyes. "You two better give Mama and Mami kisses so we can go. I would hang around a bit longer, but we are meeting Bayani in town for a bite to eat."

"Before you go, here is their diaper bag. It's already packed with everything they could possibly need today. You have our numbers if anything happens. Um, Sierra's cups are purple, Samara's are blue and don't forget they need to nap at around one or they will be monsters until they go to bed tonight." Santana was scrambling for any more information that Leroy would need to know. It was as if all of a sudden a switch flipped inside of her and she was panicking, realizing that the girls would be gone for most of the day.

"Santana, honey...Dad knows all of this stuff. This isn't the first time he and Bayani have been alone with them." It was true, Leroy and Bayani had kept the girls one morning while Rachel was at the studio and Santana was finishing up some last pieces of art work. But to be fair, Leroy and Bayani had entertained the girls at home not out in public while shopping. Oh god, what if one of the girls ran away in the store and got lost? What if Leroy turned his back for one second and someone took one of the girls out of the cart while he wasn't looking? She couldn't do this, visiting at home was okay, but in public she needed to be there, both of them needed to be there.

"They can't go Rachel, they need to stay here with us or we need to go with them. They could get lost or hurt and we would be here, putting up Christmas decorations." Santana was looking at Rachel with watery eyes. Rachel was confused about what was happening.

"They're going to be fine with Dad and Bayani. They're not going to let them get lost or hurt, I promise. You said so yourself you were worried they were going to trip over the lights or decorations we have laying out around here." Rachel was trying to reassure Santana that the girls would be okay. She didn't want them gone for very long either but, Leroy had asked if he could take the girls out for the day and spend some time with them since he knew how hard it could be to get stuff done with just one little one around, Santana and Rachel had two. They were great mothers, but they had been going full force in every aspect since the girls came home and they needed a much deserved break. However, Leroy knew there was only one way that everyone would be happy with taking a break.

"How about you two finish this up and then meet us? We can all go shopping together. Will that be okay?" Leroy focused on Santana waiting for an answer. "I get it, I do. You're new parents and you feel like by letting me take the girls out that you're putting them off on me, which I assure you, you're not. You two have been doing this by yourselves for three weeks now, it's okay to finally ask for a bit of help. There's no shame in it. You know when Hiram and I brought Rachel home from the hospital, he only lasted three days before calling our mother's to come help." Leroy chuckled at the memory. Calling their mothers had led to Hiram's grandmother and Leroy's sister coming to help also. "I know it's different because they aren't newborns, but they're still babies and I understand you wanting to be around them all the time. So, get ready, finish this and we will meet you at the diner." Leroy stated with a firmness that left no room for arguing. Santana and Rachel both looked as if they might cry from gratefulness. They just wasn't ready to be separated from their girls for long periods of time with neither of them around. Rachel had thought she would be okay with letting the girls go, but once Santana's resolve began to break so did hers. She was thankful that her Dad was the understanding man that he was.

"Okay, yeah. I think we can do that." Santana nodded her head urgently.

"Good, we will meet you there." Leroy turned his body back and forth so that each twin could give their mothers proper goodbye for now kisses. Santana watched from the front porch of the cabin as Rachel walked with her dad out to his SUV with the girls diaper bag. She had to hurry and get the rest of these decorations put up, because the sooner she done that, the sooner she would be at the diner with her girls. Since she was now going shopping with her girls, hopefully today would be the day that she and Rachel finally picked out their wedding rings. Their parents had been nagging them for weeks now and now that they had the time to actually look at rings, maybe they would find something to shut them up. The next thing they would start nagging about would be their outfits for the wedding, even though Kurt already had an appointment set up for them tomorrow. That's what parents were good for though, in the moment it sucked, but it the long run, it would sometimes turn out for the best. At least that's what Santana kept telling herself, maybe she would actually start to believe it at some point.


	98. Wedding Bands

Santana and Rachel walked around the St. Lawrence Mall pushing the twins in their strollers. Leroy and Bayani were walking ahead of them with their arms linked, giggling to each other about something. They were on their way to one of the many book stores that was in the mall. Leroy had said something about dropping in to check out his book stand. The entire family had already visited several stores where they honestly hadn't found much of anything. With the mall being the size it was, you would think that Santana would find something that Rachel might like. However, thus far she had came up with nothing. At least they still had the jewelry stores to visit, where Santana knew she would at least find wedding bands.

"Let's go in here." Santana spoke casually as she turned the stroller she was pushing, carrying Samara, into a place called Lily's.

"What do we need from in here?" Rachel asked curiously as she followed along.

"The one thing our parents have been nagging at us to get for weeks now." Santana responded as she looked into the display cases.

"Aww San, you want to get our wedding bands today?" Rachel swooned.

"If we find something we like." Santana shrugged her shoulders. She kind of regretted not getting the full set when she purchased Rachel's engagement ring. There was a chance that she could always go back and get it, but it wouldn't be here in time for the wedding ceremony. "Unless, you want the original band that matches your ring?" It never hurt to go ahead and ask.

"No, because I would want you to have a matching band for your ring and it didn't have one." That had actually been a hard selling point for Rachel. She had thought long and hard about getting a different ring, but the one she picked out was so Santana that she couldn't pass it up. "I want something that will match with yours."

Santana turned around to look at Rachel with a soft smile, that was a very reasonable request. "I want something that will match yours too. But what do we want? Stirling silver? White gold?"

"Go." Samara chirped from her stroller, looking at all the pretty sparkly things in front of her.

"She either said go and meant keep moving or go for gold." Santana chuckled.

"Pretty sure she said go for gold." A sales associate interjected while walking up to Santana and Rachel. "I couldn't help but to overhear that you two are looking for wedding bands?" Santana looked the woman up and down, trying hard not to roll her eyes. She knew the woman was just doing her job and that possibly selling a set of wedding bands could bring a hefty commission. She was older, probably late sixties, dressed to the nine's in a black power suit.

"Yes Ma'am. We were just trying to decide what we wanted exactly. I'm Rachel, this is my wife Santana and these are our girls, Sierra and Samara." Rachel grinned proudly, putting on her best Broadway smile. Of course she still had it, she always would.

The woman gasped, placing her hands on her chest. "I knew I recognized you when you came in. My heavens, I feel as if I am in the presence of royalty."

"Pardon?" Santana chuckled nervously looking around for all accessible escape routes.

"You two are practically LGBT royalty! My grand daughter and her little girlfriend, I swear they are so cute together, look up to you two so much. She'll be so jealous that I got to meet you." The older woman laughed.

Rachel looked over to Santana who was still looking around a little nervously, but slightly more relaxed than a moment ago. "What's your grand daughters name?"

"Her name is Amelia, but I call her Lily. She's my pride and joy, hence the store name."

"That's actually really lovely. How long have you been in business?" Santana asked with curiosity.

"Twenty years exactly next month." The woman, who went from sales associate to store owner beamed with pride.

"Well, Ms..?" Santana paused realizing she didn't yet know this woman's name.

"Oh please dear, call me Brenda."

"Ms. Brenda, since you know what you have for the sale the best, can you recommend some rings for us? We would love to look and chat if that's alright with you?" Santana didn't want to seem pushy and she was interested in hearing more about this woman and her business, but she didn't want to stand around talking all day.

"Yes, yes. Let me show you some of my best sellers. I should have realized sooner that you two probably have things to do and people to see." Brenda rushed off to pull some of her best sellers and some of her general favorites from the cases so that Santana and Rachel could have a look. In all her time she had been in business, this was one of the few moments where she would hopefully make a sale to celebrities.

"I would assure you that we aren't in a rush, but frankly we've put this off until the last minute." Rachel giggled as she watched Brenda pick out a few bands of the basic variety. Just something for the women to get an idea about which direction they wanted to go.

"Yeah, our parents have been nagging at us for weeks." Santana grumbled to herself more than anyone.

"They just want to make sure everything is in order. It's how all parents are when it comes to weddings." If Brenda picked up on Santana's disgruntlement, she chose to ignore it.

"I really like this one San." Rachel pointed out a very pretty white gold band. It wasn't as thick as traditional bands which Santana immediately liked and she really liked the pattern.

"That's a paisley pattern. I didn't know you wanted a band with designs on it." Santana was kind of shocked that Rachel had picked that particular ring.

"I didn't know that I wanted one either until I saw that one. It's gorgeous San and I want something that fits our personalities like our engagement rings and this one does." Rachel was almost drooling over this band, it really couldn't be that easy to pick their rings out so quickly right?

"That's one of my favorites, but I honestly don't sell a lot of them because it's designed. You would be surprised how many people want straight gold or silver bands." Brenda started moving some of the other selections back into the case. For some reason she didn't want Santana and Rachel to pick different rings, this one was just perfect for them.

"What's the details on that ring?" Santana knew just by looking at the ring it was going to cost a pretty penny, never the less two pretty pennies since they were each getting one.

"Eighteen karat white gold with twenty bead set round cut diamonds, which is about point fourteen carats total weight." Brenda explained and then waited for the follow up question that she always received.

"How much is it?" Rachel cringed a little in anticipation.

"Fifteen hundred. Pricing is based on a size six ring." Brenda looked back and forth between both women as they looked at each other. It was obvious they were having a silent conversation with their eyes.

_Are we okay with paying that much? _

_Are you sure this is the ring we want? _

_I really like it, do you? _

_Yes. _

_Okay, let's get two of them._

"I believe we will take two of them please. What do you think lady bugs? Do you like the ring?" Rachel asked while she unstrapped Samara and Santana unstrapped Sierra from their strollers. The two girls had been so enamored with all the shiny things that they hadn't even made a peep since when they first came into the store.

"Pwetty!" Samara giggled while reaching for the band. Rachel gently clasped her hand while shaking her head no.

"Go?" Sierra asked while seriously looking at her Mami.

"Yes, baby it's gold." The Latina woman laughed before kissing the tiny human on the forehead.

* * *

Rachel and Santana left the store a few moments later with their ring orders in hand. Unfortunately Brenda didn't have the ring in their sizes so they had to be ordered. That was fine with Santana and Rachel, at least they had their wedding bands taken care of now. At first they had been worried that the rings wouldn't be ready in time for the wedding, but Brenda assured them that she marked the rings as urgent and that her retailers were always swift on wedding orders. A few days tops and they would be able to pick up their rings.

The girls were now back in their strollers just enjoying being pushed as they babbled back and forth to each other and kept their eyes open for their Pap and Lolo. Rachel was sure that she would find her father most likely still in the book store. It was one of his favorite places to hang out, especially since he insisted this book store in particular had the best coffee and muffins.

"After we find Dad and Bayani are we going to head back to McKinley?" Rachel asked Santana as she weaved her stroller around a couple of people standing right in the middle of where everyone was trying to walk.

"Are we meeting Shelby and Cassie there or were they coming out here since this is closer?" Santana responded as they made their way into the book store. Sure enough Leroy and Bayani were sitting off to the side chatting with three teenage boys.

"I'm not sure." Rachel shrugged her shoulders before stopping at the table were Leroy was sitting. The girls immediately began to yell at the men, screaming Pap and Lolo over and over.

"Not sure about what?" Leroy smiled in greeting before reaching for Sierra who was damn near close to falling out of her stroller in her haste to get to her grandfather.

"About whether we are meeting Mom and Cassie here or in McKinley." Rachel explained while eyeing up the teenagers who looked like they all had just peed their pants.

"Oh, we are meeting them here, well not here here, just at a restaurant close by." Leroy glanced at Rachel before kissing Sierra on the cheek and sitting the little girl down in his lap. "Gentlemen, these are my daughters, Rachel and Santana." The teenagers nodded, their mouths now hanging open. "And these are my grand daughters, Sierra and Samara." Leroy tickled the little girl under chin making her smile and shake her head before reaching over and going the same to Samara who was now sitting in Bayani's lap.

"It's lovely to meet you. Are you fans of my Dads work?" Rachel asked curiously.

"We're...we're huge fans." One of the teenagers spoke up, his voice cracking with nerves. "We love your music too, Rachel and Santana we love your paintings."

"Thank you. You look familiar." Santana nodded to one of the teenagers who had shaggy black hair and bright green eyes. She felt like she had seen this kid before.

"I've been to several of your shows with my grandparents before and I was lucky enough to be in two of the classes that you've spoken to." The other two teenagers had now focused all of their attention on the shaggy haired teenager. It was like they were waiting on him to reveal a huge secret.

"Your last name wouldn't happen to be King would it?" Santana gave her general smirk.

"Yes Ma'am." The boy grinned with pride that Santana actually knew who he was.

"Marky, you never told us you knew _the_ Santana Berry-Lopez!" The teenager who had originally spoken first, squeaked out.

"Shut up." Marky whispered harshly though clinched teeth. "I don't _know _her, I just know her work really well."

"Marky, huh? Are you named after your grandfather?" Santana smiled, these boys were going to end up fighting right here in the book store.

"I am. Marcson King the Second, Gramps said calling me Junior was too informal." Marky shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

"You don't look like a Junior anyway, Second fits you better." Santana nodded her head and laughed along.

Leroy looked down at his watch and noticed the time. They were about to be running late to meeting Shelby and Cassie. "Gentlemen, it's been lovely, but we should really get going." Leroy turned his head towards Santana and Rachel. "We have to meet Shelby and Cassie in about twenty minutes."

"We actually have to get going too, our history project isn't going to do itself." Marky stood up and began to gather his books.

Everyone began to say their goodbyes. The teenagers each shaking Leroy and Bayani's hands for hanging out with them for so long. The entire family even hung around for a moment to take pictures, they didn't have to, but the teenagers left with such big smiles on their faces, it was definitely worth it. Now they were finally on their way to meet Shelby and Cassie. Santana and Rachel couldn't wait to announce that their rings had been ordered. They would have to call Maribel and Marcus later to inform them. However, no one could see the bands until the day of the wedding, it would just make it that much more special.

* * *

**If you're curious about the bands that Rachel and Santana picked, you can Google #120110 paisley pattern diamond ring. **


	99. Family Dinner

Santana and Rachel were ready to pull their hair out. The number of days before the wedding were slowly dwindling down into the single digits. Three. They had three days until the big day and almost everything that could go wrong, seemed to be going wrong. Three of the only things that were keeping them sane was their weddings bands came in yesterday, everyone had received their invitation and responded accordingly, and Kurt had finished their outfits along with the outfits that the girls were going to wear. The list of things that were about to drive them insane consisted of the catering company losing their reception menu, half of the tables for said reception were the wrong size, meaning that the seating chart had to be redone and they were one table short for the wedding party. All of this meant that before the family dinner tonight, Rachel and Santana had to stop by the decorators office to give their okay on the new reception layout and seating chart. At least they had already emailed a back up menu to the caterers. The decorators promised that the correct tables would be here by the day of the wedding, but just in case they weren't, they wanted Santana and Rachel to see that they could make this work with the wrong tables.

At this point in time both women were in the kitchen feeding the girls their breakfast. Well, it was more as if the girls were taking baths in their breakfast if the mushed bananas were anything to go on. At least some of it was going in their mouths? Santana cringed as Samara sneezed and a tiny bit of banana flew out of her nose.

"Okay, lady bugs. I think we are done here." Santana scrunched her nose as she gently pried the purple toddler spoon out of Samara's hand. Samara didn't care, she just continued to use her hands to shovel the rest of her bananas into her mouth. Sierra who had been doing roughly the same thing with her bananas looked mildly disgusted at her sister. The look on her face was so priceless that Rachel quickly stood up and grabbed her camera to snap a picture.

"That will be a great one to show the entire family tonight at dinner." Rachel giggled with delight.

"While I love food and our family, do we really have to go to this dinner tonight?" Santana whined a little while trying to start cleaning up the girls high chairs.

"San, it's our dinner. We kind of have to be there." Rachel responded, flicking her eyes around the room before looking at her wife curiously.

"I know." Santana sighed, like being at her family dinner was a huge weight on her shoulders. "I just feel like we haven't had any alone time with the girls in forever. It seems like every day we have been running off to do something. They been home for over a month now and we still haven't been out to the tree house. Today was going to be our day before the dinner and then every thing got screwed up."

"Hey, everything's not screwed up. The table situation will work itself out, I'm sure the decorators have came up with something that is going to look just as beautiful as the original design and the caterers were emailed our back up menu this morning." Rachel stood up and walked over to were Santana had moved on to wiping the girls down the best she could before releasing them from their high chairs. Reaching out she placed her hand on the back of Santana's neck gently pulling her face down for a kiss. "Everything is going to be okay."

"I can't wait to go on our honeymoon slash family vacation after Christmas with you and the girls." Santana whispered quietly while resting her forehead against Rachel's.

"I know, it's going to be a full week of paradise. Just us and the girls hanging out on the beach, swimming, building sand castles." Rachel closed her eyes and leaned back, dreaming of the warm sun. Don't let her get you wrong, she loved living in the mountains, but every once in a while the beach called her name.

"Swim?" Sierra chirped while looking up at her mothers.

"Do you want to go swimming lady bug?" Santana laughed while looking down at her daughter.

"No." Sierra laughed while shaking her head.

"Well, what about digging for a whale?" Santana asked with enthusiasm. She had found this thing that was set up on the beach where kids of all ages could participate in digging up whale bones. They weren't real of course, but who didn't love to dig in the sand when they were kids?

"No." Sierra laughed again.

"I think you just like saying the word no." Rachel said while tickling Sierra while lifting her from her high chair. "Someone needs a diaper change too." Rachel turned her head, squinting one eye at Santana, as if that was going to curb the fumes emitting from Sierra's diaper.

"We might as well get them both ready for a bath and then we should start getting ready. I'm sure our parents will call with something else for us to do before the dinner tonight and we have to go to the store anyway." Santana rolled her eyes, unsnapping Samara from her high chair as well.

"If they do, we will smile and do as they ask since we are the perfect daughters." Rachel gave Santana a cheeky grin before walking into the bathroom to get the shower going for the girls. Lately for some reason, the girls had wanted to take showers instead of baths. Every time one of their mothers would start to fill up their tubs the girls would start screaming _no bath_, until Santana or Rachel turned the shower head on full blast and let them stand under it. To them it was a game and they loved letting the shower spray hit them in the back before shrieking in delight. Both women always kept an extra eye on them to make sure they didn't fall, because they were still on wobbly legs, but the plus side to using the shower was that bath time was a whole lot faster now.

* * *

After the entire Berry-Lopez clan was showered, dressed and ready for the day they headed out to McKinley. The plan was to head to Shuebury's and grab some things that Santana and Rachel knew the girls needed at home. Pull ups, wipes, diaper rash cream and new under onesies were just a few things that Santana could think of right off the top her head. It was a good thing that Rachel had made an entire list. This is what their day was originally supposed to be, a little shopping, a little lunch and then back to the cabin to nap and then get ready to head to the dinner tonight. At least the dinner was at Santana and Rachel's favorite Thai place, so that was a plus.

Santana sighed, glancing at her ringing phone as she climbed out of the jeep to head into Shuebury's. Just as she suspected, it was her mother calling, probably telling her that she and Rachel had something else they needed to do before tonight.

"Hola Mami." Santana answered as she opened the passenger door to unbuckle Sierra from her seat.

_Hola Santana, how are you?_

"I'm good. About to do a bit of shopping, the girls need some things. How are you and Papi?" Santana grinned as Sierra latched onto her before shivering slightly. The wind was really cold today, she knew they couldn't have the girls outside for very long.

_We're great, we can't wait to see you and those babies tonight. They will be there won't they?_ Maribel asked in a slightly panicked tone.

Santana rolled her eyes while carrying Sierra across the parking lot with her phone pressed in between her shoulder and ear. "Of course they will be there Mami." Rachel turned to give Santana and curious look.

_I just wanted to check. Your father and I have something for them and yes it's practical so don't start._

"I didn't say anything..." Santana huffed.

_You were about to though. Anyway, I just wanted to call and check in. I will see you tonight, love you._

"I love you too Mami. Bye." Shaking her head at her phone, Santana placed it back into her pocket and jogged a little to catch up with Rachel. She didn't know why on Earth her mother thought the girls wouldn't be there, but at least she didn't ask for them to do anything else before the dinner. Don't worry, there was still plenty of time for that to happen.

* * *

Santana was pleasantly surprised when she and Rachel walked into the restaurant with the girls and hadn't been told do anything extra before they came. They did indeed stop off at the decorators office and even though it wasn't what they originally asked for, the new lay out for the reception was beautiful. It only took a little elbowing, knee nudging and some sweet lady kisses for Santana to admit that. She knew their wedding was going to be amazing and she could feel the excitement starting to bubble up. But, in the back of her mind, Santana honestly couldn't wait until it was over with and she, Rachel and the girls were on their way to the Cayman Islands.

It only took a moment for the hostess to notice that Santana and Rachel were standing there before she waved them over and handed them off to a waiter to be lead to a party room. Everyone was already there and the entire table began clapping as the women walked in. The loud noise startled the girls who hid their faces in their mothers necks. Santana chuckled as she rubbed soothing circles on Sierra's back. She couldn't get over how cute the girls looked tonight dressed up in their little frilly party dresses with tights and black dress shoes.

As the women smiled and made their way around the table, they took a moment to greet everyone before sitting down at the head of the table. The restaurant even had high chairs sat up for the girls on each side of the women. For now, since the girls were still a little unconformable they could stay in their mothers laps.

"Santana, Rachel, you both look lovely tonight." Maribel smiled at the women before shifting her eyes to the twins. "And you two just look stunning in your dresses. I'm so glad they fit perfectly."

"We're so thankful that you did get them. The ones we ordered came in yesterday and they didn't fit. Sierra's was two sizes too big and Samara's was two sizes too small. We are definitely not buying from that company anymore." Rachel shook her head with disappointment. The original dresses the girls were supposed to wear actually matched Rachel's and Santana's outfits for the night, however as Rachel had said that plan fell through last night. Rachel was currently wearing a long sleeved lace flare dress and Santana was wearing her favorite black dress pants that flared at the bottom with a red button down blouse. The girls dresses were supposed to be similar to Rachel's but trimmed in red and silver to match their mothers.

"Well, either way, you all look lovely." Maribel patted Santana on the hand who smiled at her mother. Sierra was looking around wildly, it seemed as if it had been forever since she had seen all of her grand parents at once. She was comfortable here in Mami's lap but she wanted to visit with everyone. Wiggling the tiny girl tilted her head back to look up at mother.

"Bua, Buo." Sierra said before leaning forward reaching her arms out to Maribel.

"You can sit with Abeula if you want." Santana reached the little girl over to her mother who stood in her lap and clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Bites, bites." Samara giggled from her position on Rachel's lap.

"I think someone is hungry, it's been a while since we had lunch." Rachel laughed and kissed the toddler on her head.

"The food should start coming out in a few minutes." Shelby stated while looking down at her watch. She was grateful that with such a large party, the restaurant required you to place your orders ahead of time, they even encouraged you to order their feast platters which included several of their main dishes along with each respected side dish. The table would be packed with food soon and the girls could have some much needed bite bites.

* * *

After everyone had their fill of food and drinks the table sat around talking with one another about what was going to happen at the rehearsal tomorrow. Admittedly Santana was a little nervous, but excited none the less. Since they were already married, the ceremony itself would just be Puck "remarrying" them, Rachel and Santana stating their vows to each other and they had came up with something special for the girls. At the reception anyone who wanted to say something was welcome too and then they would proceed to party for the rest of the evening.

The big count down had finally began. Two days. In two days Santana would walk down the isle and wait for her bride to join her. In two days they would celebrate their marriage and the fact that their family was now a whole. Two days couldn't come quick enough.


	100. Wedding Day Part:1

The day was finally here. There was no more running around trying to make sure that everything was ready, there were no more days of anticipation, it was time. Rachel and Santana were finally about to have their wedding that they had been dreaming of for a while now. Last night was the rehearsal and everything had went off without a hitch. The missing tables did in fact show up and Santana and Rachel had already been to the sound stage last night to check them out. The place was beautiful. Puck had hired his main construction crew to section off the sound stage using one part for the ceremony and the other for the reception. It was kind of funny that they were using an old church set from a previous video shoot that had been spruced up to Santana and Rachel's liking. The archway they would be standing under was adorned with burgundy and gold flowers that were accented with green ribbon that was also trimmed in gold. In order to avoid a full blown Christmas wedding they made their two main colors burgundy and gold so that everything wouldn't look like a holiday wreath. The chairs that the guests would be sitting in all were draped in burgundy and gold seat covers. Also, the walk way up to the alter? Gold. Okay, so maybe they had went a little overboard on all of the gold, but they really wanted to stay away from using all burgundy and hunter green, at least for the ceremony.

The reception however was another thing entirely. All of the table clothes were a mixture of all three colors with the chairs draped to match. The center pieces for each table were small bouquets of the same flowers on the archway tied with the same ribbon. There was also a large projector sat up at the back of the room. Santana wasn't sure what that was for, but knowing her parents and Rachel's parents they probably had some kind of video planned that would leave them all in tears. Being that it was Rachel and Santana's wedding, there was a huge dance floor set up directly in front of a stage. They had planned on hiring a DJ, but after realizing how truly offended Puck was by that, they tried to hire some of Rachel's colleagues, but they declined stating that they would perform for free as wedding gifts. Everything was set and ready to go, now Rachel and Santana just had to get their butts into gear.

* * *

"SAN! Were are the little necklaces we got for the twins? I can't find them." Rachel yelled from upstairs in the loft. Santana was downstairs with the twins tying their shoe laces waiting on Rachel so they could head to the sound stage. It was only seven in the morning and she was already tired.

"They're down here in our jewelry bag. You put them in there last night." Santana stated loudly but calmly. She turned and shook her head at the girls. "Your Mama is silly." The twins just giggled and kicked their feet against the couch.

Instead of doing the traditional, not seeing your spouse before your wedding routine, Santana and Rachel decided that since they were already married, they could see each other. Santana was glad that they had made that decision because she always had a hard time sleeping away from Rachel. She also didn't want to be away from the girls that long, she already knew things were going to get stressful when Rachel would go on tour, but that was another conversation for another day. Santana didn't want to think about that stuff on her wedding day, it would only bring down her mood.

"Are you sure I packed them?" Rachel asked breathlessly as she came down the stairs.

"Yep." Santana unzipped the bag and proudly held up the two black velvet boxes that contained name necklaces for the girls. Themselves and all of their close family could tell them apart, but for the new people whom they would meet today, they would need a little reminder. "Before you even ask, our rings are right here too." Santana replaced the two boxes in her hand with two additional boxes that were velvet red.

"Are we forgetting anything?" Rachel stood with her hand resting on her forehead going over a mental list.

"We have everything that we need. Kurt is meeting us in our rooms at ten with our clothes and shoes and he's bringing his most trusted hair and makeup crew, so we don't need any of that stuff. We need to get going soon, Puck has already texted me twice asking where we were." Santana sighed as she heard her phone ding once again. "Make that three times."

"He's just excited. You know he planned this whole wedding breakfast all on his own. The caterers didn't even know about it. He had the studio's cafeteria staff there at five this morning." Rachel smiled as she picked up the jewelry bag that she and Santana had packed.

"Yeah well, we told him we didn't need or want bachelorette parties since we are already married and in his words he _needed to plan something_. So he decided on a wedding breakfast. He can stop texting me though, because it doesn't even start until eight and it doesn't even take twenty minutes for us to get down there." Santana shrugged her shoulders while smiling back at Rachel. She truly appreciated and was humbled by everything that was being done for her today, it just felt so surreal. What she didn't appreciate was her phone blowing up with messages to _hurry_ and _where are you?_ when the wedding didn't even start until two.

* * *

After pulling into the studio parking lot at exactly ten til eight, Santana swung over by the sound stage so that she could run in and drop off the things that she and Rachel brought from home. They didn't bring much, just their jewelry bag, sensible shoes that she knew Kurt would throw a fit over later on and some slightly formal but yet comfy clothes for the girls to put on after the wedding. There was no way in hell that they were going to let the girls wear their dresses while they ate.

Walking into the studio and heading towards the cafeteria, Santana could already hear the excited chatter. Everyone must be there already. They were going to be in trouble since it was now eight on the dot. In all honesty, Puck could kiss her ass. If he wasn't her brother from another mother and father and he wasn't marrying them today, she would tell him to go away. However, like Rachel had said, he was excited and she couldn't fault him for that.

Pushing open the doors, both women were met with loud cheers and clapping. The people around here really knew how to make you feel welcome when you entered a room. Startled the twins looked around the room and began cheering along with everyone. Who cares what they were cheering for.

Santana shook her head while laughing. "Okay, calm down. The brides are finally here."

"It's about time!" Quinn yelled from her seat beside Puck at the head of the table.

"Shut it blondie, we're right on time." Santana playfully scowled while sitting down in her chair that someone, she wasn't sure who, had pulled out for her.

"I honestly wondered if you would be late on purpose because I kept texting you." Puck chuckled.

"It crossed my mind, but we skipped breakfast for this one and the girls were getting antsy since they only had bottles and some bananas when they woke up."

"You're here now and that's what matters." Puck stated before standing up and straightening his shirt. "Everyone...I want to say something before we begin to enjoy this wonderful feast sat out before us. Today is Santana and Rachel's day and like true Puckerman-Fabray Production fashion, we are here to celebrate them just like we celebrate each of you when something important happens in your life. With that said, do not be late this after noon. Eat, drink, but don't get drunk, and let's kick this wedding off right!" Puck held his drink up in the air while the large table of people done the same and began to cheer again.

"Wait, wait, wait. I want to say something too." Santana waved her hands to get every one to settle back down. She momentarily shifted Sierra onto Quinn's lap, the tiny girl immediately smiling and leaning back into Quinn's chest. "I'm not one for making speeches or anything, but I want to thank you on behalf of myself and Rachel for you all being here today. I know it's only five days before Christmas and some of you were already back home, but you came back for us and that means a lot." Rachel reached up and grabbed Santana's hand. "First off, thank you to everyone who will be performing today, thank you to our parents for doing most of our wedding planning, thank you Kurt for making our entire parties wedding outfits, a special thank you to Puck, who will be the one marrying us today and thank you to our wedding party, Quinn, Beth, Kurt, you three are our best friends. We love you all and appreciate everything you have done for us. So like Puck said, eat, drink and let's have a wedding!" Santana began to cheer and shake Rachel's hand since she was still holding it before sitting back down and kissing her quickly on the lips.

"I couldn't have said any of that better myself." Rachel smiled before kissing Santana quickly again.

* * *

"Why are you nervous?" Santana asked herself as she stood looking in the mirror of her dressing room. It was finally time, she would be walking down the aisle in mere moments and she was nervous as hell. Looking at herself in the mirror Santana adjusted her jacket one last time. Kurt had done an amazing job on her outfit. She was wearing an all white suit just like she wanted with a white button down dress shirt underneath. The buttons on the shirt were black along with her crossover bow tie, two little things with just enough black that she could get away with wearing her black heels. All in all, it was perfect. She didn't know what Rachel's outfit looked like because she hadn't been able to see it. Kurt never would let them try their outfits on in the same room because he wanted to save the wow factor for the wedding. She knew she was going to look beautiful though. Santana was in the process of giving herself one more once over, looking at Kurt and his teams handy work when she heard a knock on the door.

"San?" Marcus called out as he knocked on the door.

"Come in Papi."

"Are you ready to go mija?" Marcus pushed open the door and stepped in. "You look stunning mi amor."

Santana blushed and looked down at her feet. "Thank you and yes, I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

"Do I look okay Mom?" Rachel asked as she turned to face Shelby who had been helping her put her dress on.

"Honey..you look more than okay. You look amazing." Shelby walked over and took Rachel's hands into her own. "Thank you for asking me for help today. It means the world to me."

"You don't have to thank me, you're my mom. You should be in here with me." Rachel smiled and kissed Shelby on the cheek before turning to look in the mirror once more. Kurt's team had done an amazing job on her hair and make up. Both her and Santana had chosen light make up where their natural features was highlighted. Rachel's hair hung down in loose curls while Santana's hair was fixed into a partial up do. At least Rachel had been able to see Santana during that process. It made her sad that she hadn't seen Santana or her girls in over an hour now and she couldn't wait to get out of this room. Leroy was due to arrive at any minute.

A moment later, Shelby walked over to the door when she heard a light knock. Rachel stood in the mirror and watched the door slowly open as Leroy walked in. The older man gasped at how beautiful his baby girl looked. Her dress was amazing, white, trimmed in black lace with little silver beads around the torso area. Kurt really had planned their outfits down to the final details. The twins little dresses were similar to Rachel's, however they had black bows tied around their waists instead of the design that Rachel had with the lace and beads. Kurt easily knew that something like that would distract the girls.

"Are you ready to go?" Leroy asked as he tried to discreetly wipe his tears away. "I can't get over how beautiful you look. Your father...I know he's here today, I can feel him. He wouldn't miss this moment for the world."

"I know he's here too." Rachel nodded her head and tried not to cry, she had been doing that all day, seems like. However, in the moment she didn't want to ruin her make up before Santana seen her in all her glory. "I'm ready. Don't let me fall Dad." Rachel wrapped her arm around Leroy's, resting her hand on his forearm.

"I would never." Leroy patted Rachel's hand as they followed Shelby out of the room. The big moment was finally here. In the eyes of many people...two hero's were about to be united, officially in front of their friends and family.


	101. Wedding Day Part:2

Santana glanced anxiously around the corner of the church set. She was trying to see Rachel, but because she was hiding around the opposite corner, there was no way. However she could see Shelby and Cassie, Maribel and Bayani, Quinn and Kurt, and last the twins and Beth. Santana couldn't get over how cute the girls looked sitting there in their little gold wagon that Beth would be pulling. At first they had wanted the girls to walk with Beth, but they were already at such a squirmy age, both women knew they wouldn't have cooperated, at all. The wagon was the next best thing and the girls didn't have to carry their little baskets of flowers, they could just hold them and toss the flowers out. Santana really hoped they didn't turn those baskets upside down once they were finished with the flowers because the wedding band boxes were in there. Thinking about it now, they probably should have done something a little different with the rings, but they wanted the girls more involved. Suddenly the music started, which meant that Puck had taken his place at the alter.

"Feet don't fail me now." Santana mumbled as she shuffled forward again and watched Shelby and Cassie walk through the beautiful oak doors. This was going to take a moment considering Blaine and Brittany wanted everyone to stop and take pictures once the doors closed again. Santana could be annoyed by that, but she was very thankful that Blaine and Brittany were going out of their way to make sure that they didn't miss anything. One thing they were adamant about capturing was the first time that Rachel and Santana saw each other. Instead of entering in the same fashion as everyone else, they each had their own door on opposite sides of the set. Santana and Rachel each would enter with their fathers, walk to the middle and then all four of them would walk down the aisle together. It had been kind of funny explaining that to the decorators who didn't do many weddings were so many people walked down the aisle together.

"It's time to go San." Marcus gently patted Santana on her hand that was still resting on his forearm. Had she really spaced out that long? She must have because before she could even react to what her father had just said, he began to move them forward. Pulling open the door, Marcus made sure that he didn't hit himself in the face as he let Santana step through first before following swiftly. Marcus watched the two women stare at the floor, they must have been counting to themselves before raising their heads. Both women's eyes began to water as they took each other in. The flashes and sounds of the camera's capturing the moment were long forgotten as they stared at each other, lost in their own little world.

Marcus and Leroy took a step back as the two women met in the middle. Santana instantly took Rachel into hers. "You look beautiful baby."

"Thank you, so do you." Rachel responded as she blushed and looked down. Blaine and Brittany snapped a few more pictures of just Rachel and Santana before motioning for Leroy and Marcus to step back into frame. They eventually had to get Rachel and Santana to look at the camera because they just kept looking at each other. With them looking at each other the whole time, there was higher chance of one of them falling and no one wanted that.

* * *

After making it down the aisle, Santana and Rachel now found themselves standing in front of Puck who bounced on his toes with giddiness. Quinn stood behind Santana, Beth to her right, Kurt behind Rachel and the twins now sat comfortably in Shelby and Maribel's laps. Technically the girls were supposed to stay in their wagon, but they weren't having any of that at all. If they were more comfortable where they were, then so be it.

"Lady's and Gentlemen we are here today to witness the rejoining," Puck winked at Santana and Rachel, "of hands between Santana and Rachel. When I was first asked to do this, I was shocked momentarily and then honored. Santana has been my best friend since we were in preschool together. Rachel you only came into the picture three years ago, but I feel like I have known you just as long as Santana. I've been witness to the amazing relationship that you two have and I know that you are perfect for each other. Now it is my understanding that you both have written vows for each other. Santana, would you like to go first?" Puck turned his attention to Santana as she turned around and reached for a piece of paper in Quinn's hand. The blonde then pulled out Rachel's ring box, waiting for the moment when Santana asked for it. Kurt already had Santana's ring in his pocket, they had gotten them out when the girls got out of the wagon before Santana and Rachel walked down the aisle.

"My dearest Rachel, my best friend, my better half, my soul mate that I never believed existed. You make me the happiest I have ever been. When I first met you I was so afraid to love you and now that I have fallen completely in love with you, I know that I could not have found a better person to spend the rest of my life with. We've already had our fair share of ups and downs, but I promise that if or when more come along, I will stick by you through those as well. As most traditional vows go, I promise to always be by your side in sickness and in health, richer or poorer and I promise that even though I tend to walk in front of you as a your protector, I will try my best to always walk beside you, encouraging you, supporting you and being that hand you need to hold when something scary happens. I love you with everything in me and I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together with our girls as a family." Santana sniffled and wiped her eyes before reaching for the ring that Quinn was holding out for her to take.

"Santana will now place Rachel's ring on her finger and then Rachel you can read your vows." Puck spoke as he teetered back and forth on his heels a bit. He watched as Santana placed the ring on Rachel's finger and kissed it before taking the woman's hand back into her own. "Rachel?"

"Santana, at the moment as I am writing this you are next to me sleeping peacefully. The cabin is quiet except for the occasional noise on the baby monitor from the twins or the random snoring of Dax and Dahlia. Sometimes, it's truly the little things that can make you the happiest. You're the greatest thing in my life that has given me some of my happiest little moments. When I first met you, I was literally lost and confused, but you took me in without hesitation, you stood by me through the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with and for that I thank you. I promise to always do the same for you, in moments of weakness I will be the arms that hold you, in moments of sadness I will be the shoulder you can cry on, even if you never admit it later on." Everyone laughed lightly. "If you ever feel lost and confused like I was, let me return the favor and be your light. I love you Santana more than I could ever put into words, if I could I would talk forever and I know I talk too much as it is." Rachel laughed as she wiped at her eyes as she too was now crying. "You're my dream come true, my wish upon a star and I'm looking forward to growing old with you, watching our girls turn into women and having families of their own. I love you." Rachel turned to Kurt and happily accepted the ring that he handed her. Placing the ring on Santana's finger she then turned to Puck waiting on him to tell her that she could finally kiss her bride.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly announce Mrs. and Mrs. Berry-Lopez. You can kiss your bride now." Puck winked at Rachel as the whole room erupted into cheers. Maybe it was because it was their wedding day or maybe it was something that would always happen, but as Rachel touched her lips to Santana's she felt her world once again fall into place. This was definitely the moment she had been waiting for.

* * *

Now that the ceremony itself was over, the guests began to file into the reception area while the parents and wedding party went outside to take pictures. One of the best things about living in an extremely mountainous area was the fact that you constantly had beautiful back drops. Santana and Rachel hopped onto one golf cart with the girls, while everyone else piled onto the remaining three. They were headed across the parking lot where there was a small natural waterfall. It was going to be beautiful, but they definitely had to hurry because it was cold out and they didn't want to risk the girls getting sick from being outside without proper attire.

Looking over at Rachel, all Santana could do was smile while watching her wife hold tightly to Samara so that she didn't fall off. It was as if this was all sinking in all over again. She was a happily married woman with two beautiful girls, life just couldn't get any better at the moment. "I love you." Santana randomly said.

"I love you too." Rachel replied before looking down at Samara and then over to Sierra in Santana's lap. "And we love you girls."

"Today has been perfect." Santana reached over and rested her hand on the back of Rachel's neck, laughing when Rachel shimmied because Santana's hands were so cold. "And it's not over yet." Santana smiled widely as they came to a stop in front of the water fall. They only had so long before they began to lose the perfect lighting or everyone started to freeze, yes, Blaine and Brittany were already fussing at everyone to get into position. This was going to be the longest, relatively short photo shoot that Santana had even been a part of. At least she had Rachel and the twins by her side.

* * *

After what Santana would call a grueling thirty minutes of taking all sorts of pictures, they were all finally headed inside to get the reception started. However their first stop was back to their changing rooms so that they could get the twins out of their dresses. They had started to whine right as the photo shoot was finishing up, Rachel and Santana both knew that as soon as the girls were warm, comfy and had some food in their bellies, they would be falling asleep.

Entering into the reception, each with a twin, Santana and Rachel were welcomed by a loud applause before they made their way to their table to sit down and eat. The room was filled with laughter and love, two things that made up a great reception. Midway through eating dinner, the two women found out exactly what the projector had been for. Their parents had put together a bunch of home movies of the women before transitioning over to photos and videos that had been taken at the children's home, past holidays and birthdays. Both women couldn't help but get emotional as they watched their little selves dance and sing on screen. They hoped one day to be able to do something like this for Sierra and Samara. Speaking of the twins, both of them were asleep as expected, inside of their wagon. It was so cute to see them both laying there snuggled up to one another all cozy with their blankets. Santana was just thankful that someone had thought ahead of time to bring the wagon over.

As the night progressed things slowly began to wind down. All of the parents gave moving speeches about Santana and Rachel before they had a parent dance, where each woman danced with all of their parents. They had decided to do it this way because there were so many of them that they knew someone would get their feelings hurt. They had also planned a dance with the twins as well, but the girls had only woken up long enough to eat, play for a bit and then immediately knocked back out. It was like they were getting short bursts of energy.

When the end of the reception came around, Santana and Rachel found themselves dancing with two very sleepy twins as one of the bands played We Could Be Heroes. It was fittingly the best song for both women as they were both heroes in their own right.

"Happy Wedding Day. Mrs. Berry - Lopez." Santana whispered as she stepped closer to Rachel.

"The same to you, Mrs. Berry - Lopez." Rachel responded as she kissed Santana on the lips. It was official in every aspect, Santana and Rachel were finally married and one big happy family with their girls. They knew this wasn't the end of their journey, they still had a lot of life left to live, but for now this was the best moment in their lives.

* * *

**Finished...for now. I do have a one-shot planned that covers Christmas Eve and Christmas that will be up soon. There will also be more to come at a later date. This isn't the last that you have seen of this family. I can't thank you all enough for sticking with me throughout this entire story, it means more to me than I can even begin to express. Writing is just a little hobby of mine and for so many people to actually like something that I have written is very humbling. It boggles my mind that this story has taken almost a year to write, I'm kind of amazed at myself for sticking with it honestly. I'm glad I did though and I'm glad that you all have enjoyed reading it just as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thank you all again for the views, reviews, favorites and follows. I hope to write more for you in the future.**


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